The Rise of the Third Reich

At noon on December 12, 1942, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his cabinet members did not know that the NR21 fleet had suffered another heavy blow. But they gathered urgently for a harrowing meeting at the War Cabinet headquarters beneath King Charles Street.

Lütjens, who was so lucky, returned to Gibraltar happily after "picking up" 100 American ships filled with wheat and egg powder. He had no idea what would happen to the people who lost those wheat and egg powder. Sad - the tens of millions of starving British people on the British Isles have just lost more than 300,000 tons of food that they are about to eat. At the same time, there are 108,000 more American eaters with good appetites on British soil. , is there anything more heartbreaking than this in the world?

As the head of the British Empire, British Prime Minister Churchill is still as fat as ever and does not look hungry at all. But he still shed a few tears of sadness because of the lost food.

"Mr. Prime Minister, after losing... 300,000 tons of wheat and 35,000 tons of egg powder, our supply has become even tighter." Sir Woolton, the British Minister of Agriculture, said with an old face. Twisted into a ball. "I'm afraid that starting from January next year, food rations will be further reduced."

Food rations are now running low in the UK! This is not only because the British Isles have been in a dangerous situation of blockade since the spring of 1942, but also because the war on the island of Ireland prevented the United Kingdom from importing agricultural products from Ireland.

At the same time, the extreme shortage of oil has become another important reason for deteriorating food supply. It's not because there are so many agricultural machinery in the UK that consume gasoline and diesel, but because the army that was originally motorized has regressed to mules and horses. However, the British army could not conjure enough horses out of thin air, so it had no choice but to requisition them from the private sector.

A large number of civilian plow horses (British agriculture relied heavily on horses for plowing at that time) were requisitioned by the army, resulting in a significant decrease in the sown area in 1942.

In addition, in order to prepare for the decisive war on the mainland, the Churchill government made every effort to recruit young men for various war preparations throughout 1942, which in turn made agricultural production even more lacking in labor.

So in the autumn of 1942, Britain's grain harvest hit its lowest record since the war began.

"The difficulty is only temporary." Churchill glanced at the dejected cabinet members or senior generals in the conference room, trying to force a smile. "The Americans' transportation plan is still half successful, isn't it?"

Half the success, or half the failure... Although the previous statement can be inspiring, the British dignitaries here still know very well that in the escort transport operation that has not yet ended, the successful half must belong to the Soviet Union! And the losing half mostly belongs to Britain.

Not only did Britain lose the food it was about to get, but it also lost three valuable King George V-class battleships. Now the Royal Navy has almost lost the ability to fight alone in the Atlantic.

"Mr. Prime Minister, the problem now is that the next transportation must be organized as soon as possible." Deputy Prime Minister and Labor leader Attlee frowned and said, "Now most British people are starving, and many people are already feeling uncomfortable about the continuation of the war. Despair and dissatisfaction... This situation is just like Germany in 1918. If we cannot solve the food supply problem as soon as possible, I am afraid that the war-weariness will further intensify and eventually become uncontrollable."

It is difficult for a starving person to be in a happy mood, and the long-term hunger of tens of millions of people is often linked to political and life-threatening problems. In the last World War, Germany was not so much defeated by the armies of Britain, France and the United States as it was tortured to madness by long-term food shortages.

But now, as if karma has occurred, it is the German navy that is blockading, and it is the British people who are starving. Although the British are more mature than the Germans when it comes to dealing with hunger. But the British people's patience has limits after all, and they cannot endure it forever.

"Mr. Prime Minister, the French declared the provinces of Algeria and Morocco to be French territory not long ago." Deputy Prime Minister Attlee said with a grimace. "And German Chancellor Hitler also announced that the border between Africa and Europe is in the Sahara Desert..."

Churchill snorted heavily and interrupted Attlee. Of course the fat man understood what Attlee, a weakling, meant - the French seemed to have a good time following the Germans! The two large pieces of land, Algeria and French Morocco, were all swallowed up and turned into native lands!

German Chancellor Hitler announced that the border between Europe and Africa lies in the Sahara Desert, which is obviously supporting France's complete annexation of Algeria and French Morocco, and may also support Italy's intention to annex Egypt and Italian Libya.

And completely annexing it and turning it into a mainland is not the same thing as setting up a colony and establishing a protectorate. The relationship between the colony, the protectorate and the mainland is similar to the relationship between the king and the princes, and the expansion of the mainland is the expansion of the king's direct territory.

The current British Empire seems to be a king with many vassal states but a small direct territory. In the United States and the Soviet Union, there are no princes, but kings with very large territories directly under their jurisdiction. Therefore, the power that Britain can mobilize in this world war is completely incomparable to the huge United States and the Soviet Union.

Considering that the current reactionary regimes in France and Italy have the fascist attribute of specializing in all kinds of dissatisfaction, coupled with the support of Germany, the major European alliance leader, there seems to be no difficulty in integrating and annexing the territories in North Africa. Once the large land in North Africa becomes the homeland of France and Italy, it will mean the real expansion of the living space of the French and Italian nations. These two countries will rise from medium-sized countries with a territory of several hundred thousand square kilometers to large countries with an area of ​​two to three million square kilometers.

And what can the British Empire gain from its current stubborn resistance? It seemed like there was only endless hunger and the disintegration of the empire!

Therefore, in the eyes of many British people who had no way to transfer to Canada, their unyielding Prime Minister Churchill was simply an enemy of the people who was harming the empire.

"The French and Italians simply cannot keep the land in North Africa. The people there love freedom and their religion is different from that in Europe." Churchill took a long puff of Cuban cigar and said in a very positive tone, "And our American friends Reinforcements have been sent, and now 108,000 very elite troops have arrived at Scapa Flow, and more American troops will arrive soon, so victory will definitely belong to the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union. If Germany follows Germany against the free world, then an extremely miserable future awaits these two countries..."

Before Churchill had finished speaking, a colonel wearing a naval uniform hurriedly walked into the conference room and thrust a piece of paper into the hands of First Sea Lord Dudley Pound.

Pound's face was already very ugly, so pale that there was no blood at all. He unfolded the report paper, took one look at it and his whole body shook, as if he was about to faint.

"Sir, what happened?" Churchill asked with a frown.

Pound smiled bitterly and said: "It was the NR21 fleet. They were bombed repeatedly by German aircraft and suffered heavy losses... More than 90 ships were sunk, and most of the fuel, weapons and ammunition they carried were lost. Prime Minister, It seems that our American reinforcements are of no use for the time being."

Apart from eating, is there any other use for American soldiers without weapons and equipment?

"No, they are still useful..." Churchill was silent for a while, gritted his teeth and said, "They can boost the low morale of the British people and arrange for them to come to London. As long as there are 100,000 people fully armed, wearing beautiful military uniforms, and with high morale When American soldiers march through the main streets of London, I believe that the British people will renew their struggle and be confident of the coming victory!"

"But... Mr. Prime Minister, how can we carry out our counterattack in Ireland without American troops?" Admiral Brooke, the Imperial Chief of Staff, asked with a frown.

The British counterattacks on the island of Ireland have been carried out for several waves, but they have not achieved any breakthroughs. Instead, they have lost troops and generals. However, Churchill never gave up and continued to send reinforcements to organize new attacks. It also plans to take advantage of the polar night in the North Atlantic to transport a large number of well-equipped US troops to the UK in order to strengthen its counterattack capabilities.

But now that the well-equipped U.S. military has turned into an American loser with nothing but bare hands (they still have rifles), can they still fight back?

"The new round of counterattack is temporarily postponed, only temporarily." Churchill thought for a while and said, "Send a message to Viscount Halifax and Sir Dill and ask them to make a request to the United States and ask them to send a new round of counterattack as soon as possible." A convoy fleet."

"Mr. Prime Minister, we do not have sea control in the North Atlantic now." British Admiralty Alexander reminded Churchill in a low voice. "Even if the Americans are willing to send a fleet, it may be difficult to pass the German blockade."

"Didn't the Normandy, Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth pass safely?" Churchill asked rhetorically, "Can't there be a transport fleet composed entirely of fast transport ships? Wouldn't this be able to easily break through the German blockade? Is it online?”

Fatty Qiu had been the Minister of the Navy after all, and he knew a lot about maritime affairs. As long as the Germans did not occupy Ireland, Britain's maritime lifeline would not be completely cut off. The reason why the NR21 fleet was in trouble this time was because the ship was too slow. If it could run at an average speed of 25 knots, the German fleet would not have time to arrive, and the fleet would have arrived safely in the UK.