When British Foreign Secretary Viscount Halifax and Admiral Secretary Winston Churchill arrived in the Belgian port of Zeebrugge on the world's most powerful warship, HMS Hood, there were protests on a nearby dock.
Protesters held homemade placards with the words written in bright red paint: The EU, not the war; Europeans don't fight Europeans; Belgium did not need the British Empire.
It is clear that the Germans' "lure surrender" of Belgium had some effect.
The Belgians suffered greatly from the last world war, and at the same time suffered from a severe "war phobia".
Now faced with a re-emerged, aggressive German Empire that had beaten a "power" like Poland to its knees in just 12 days, the Belgians were afraid to compromise.
Moreover, the current King of Belgium, Leopold III, also lost the bravery and perseverance of his father Albert I, it was Albert I who stepped forward at a critical moment, informed France of William II's conspiracy, and led the Belgian people to block the hole for France, so that Britain and France won the world war.
But his son now had lost all his courage in the face of a Germany that had come back and become stronger.
Of course, this generation of Belgians is just as cowardly as their king.
When they read in the newspapers that the head of the German General Staff, Field Marshal Hersmann, threatened to drop 10,000 tons of bombs a day in Paris, they thought not of justice and justice, but of the fear that these bombs would fall on Brussels and Antwerp.
So when the Germans demanded that Belgium return the reparations state, cede part of the Ardennes to Luxembourg and join Germany, and join the German-dominated Customs Union and the European Mark Area, there were many people who wanted to compromise.
And on the eve of the outbreak of the world war, the monarchs of Sweden, Denmark, Luxembourg and Belgium formed a "group of goodwill people" and called for peacekeeping to intercede on behalf of Belgium, finally making the Germans give up their territorial claims to Luxembourg and the Ardennes, and only insisted on claiming compensation states and Belgium to join the "Customs Union" and "Euromark Zone" and other seemingly very preferential demands.
Hardly anyone in the whole of Belgium wanted to go to war with Germany anymore.
Moreover, even a minority of anti-Germans could not say what noble goal Belgium was fighting for this time Against the European Customs Union, Belgium is not a big market, it has a small territory, a small population, and a developed industrialized country.
There is absolutely no reason to refuse to join a market that is ten or twenty times larger than it.
German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop has already told the Dutch government that the Euromark will be issued by the European Bank, a central bank under the joint control of all the governments of the European Customs Union, with its headquarters in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, if the Dutch are willing to join While it was a bit risky to abandon the Belgian franc and adopt the Euromark, it was better than a war with Germany In addition, joining the European Customs Union and adopting the Euromark were not immediately necessary, but only after the Germans bombed Paris, Lyon, and Marseille in France to the ground.
The Belgians, on the other hand, would have gained Germany's recognition of neutrality before the French were killed in many of their shells.
Although it is certainly a pity that such beautiful cities as Paris, Lyon and Marseille were bombed.
But this is better than the bombing of Brussels and Antwerp, and the Belgians just want to live in peace, and they are not obliged to die for the French or the British Therefore, when the British Foreign Secretary and the Secretary of the Navy arrived in Belgium on the huge battlecruiser "Hood", escorted by several light cruisers and destroyers, they were met with protests from the peace-loving Belgian people.
"Winston, it looks like we're persona non grata."
Viscount Halifax stood on the deck of the "Hood", waiting for the Belgian Prime Minister to arrive in the port of Zeebrugge, but was surrounded by the angry Belgian crowd in the hotel, chatting with Churchill beside him.
If Hitler was a brilliant gambler, then Hersmann was a Go master.
He spent more than 20 years carefully arranging a chess game for a world war.
Now Britain and France have been put in a great deal of passivity, not only militarily, but also internationally.
Although Germany has also annexed the Czechs, Austria and the Baltics, it has also beaten Poland violently.
Internationally, however, no one regarded Germany as an aggressor, and Germany's annexation of Bohemia, Austria, and the Baltic was at the request of the three nationally elected parliaments, while the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia had previously been supported by the League of Nations.
The Polish-German conflict also arose from Poland's violation of the Polish-German Agreement of 1918, in which Germany had given Lithuania to Poland as compensation for its recognition of the eastern border.
Poland later annexed Lithuania on the basis of the Polish-German Agreement of 1918, and on the other hand, on the basis of the Treaty of Versailles, the Treaty of Versailles, which claimed that the "Agreement" was illegal and annexed most of Germany's West Prussia, Posen, and part of Silesia and part of East Prussia.
It's a bit ugly to eat, and now Germany can't be unreasonable if it wants to seek justice.
Moreover, Germany chose to make peace with Poland after achieving the borders set out in the Polish-German Agreement of 1918.
Poland, which faced the invasion of the Soviet Union, also accepted all the peace terms proposed by Germany.
The Polish-German war was over, and the Poles were friendly to the Germans.
Under these circumstances, it was also difficult for Britain and France to believe that Germany was a heinous aggressor.
"It doesn't matter if we will be welcome or not," Churchill said, looking at the crowd of protesters on the dock and smoking a cigar, "the key now is not to allow Germany to achieve its European customs union and European mark ambitions, so we cannot make peace with Germany" Churchill exhaled a large puff of white smoke, "If the Germans do not engage in the European Customs Union and the European mark, it is not impossible to make peace."
But now, we have to fight to the end" Once the European Customs Union and the European Mark are established, in 20 years, the German Empire will become an intercontinental empire as powerful as the United States.
At that time, the British Empire will really collapse.
"But we can't completely reject peace talks."
Viscount Halifax frowned and said, "Now that Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden, Norway and Denmark are all calling for peace, and even US President Roosevelt has spoken, we can't help but make a gesture." ” That is why Churchill and Viscount Halifax came to Belgium, and Britain and France could not but make some gestures for peace.
At the same time, Churchill and Viscount Halifax also had to avoid Belgium and Luxembourg from immediately "falling" to Germany, and they had to avoid Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg from signing any agreement on the establishment of a "customs union" and a "European mark zone" after the war.
"Marshal, this is a report from the Military Intelligence Service."
Hans Spaidar handed a report to Hersmann, who was attending a meeting of the High Command, and walked away briskly.
"What's the news," Schleicher asked.
"The British Foreign Secretary and the Admiral Secretary went to Belgium to discuss peace."
Hersmann looked at the MI report and said sarcastically, "But the British have asked Belgium not to make any agreement with us for the time being." ” "What do they mean?"
Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Senior General Baker, was also present at today's meeting, and he was a relatively clear-cut Lord-peace faction, and certainly not so clear-cut as to launch a coup d'état to overthrow Kaiser Wilhelm.
"If we want to achieve peace, why should Belgium not be allowed to sign an agreement with us" "Because the British are trying to delay," Hersmann certainly wouldn't tell Baker that it was because of the "Euromark" that "they wouldn't lift the blockade" "If they don't lift the blockade, we'll continue to launch unrestricted submarine warfare," said Navy's commander-in-chief Raeder, "and by January next year, two fleets will be able to attack."
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Raeder went on to report that there was now a fleet of Scharnhurst-class battleships, a Seydlitz-class carrier, and a K-class light cruiser ready to be dispatched, but another was still being prepared.
"Maybe we can send a broken fleet first," Hersmann said, glancing at Hitler, the historical "Führer" who had little say now.
"Soon it will be October, and the climate in the North Atlantic will not be conducive to submarine activity."
Although Dönitz now has more than 300 submarines available, because the war broke out in September, the North Atlantic's winter winds and waves are dangerous, and the nights are very dark and long, which is not conducive to submarine activities.
Therefore, there was not much time left for the submarine forces to play a real fatal blow to British sea transport.
But it was a good time for the Broken Fleet to go out, but Hirschmann had the Broken Fleet not just to sink a few British transports.
Because now Britain and France have confirmed the neutrality of the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and other countries He said to Hitler: "Leader, the dispatch of the Scharnhurst and the Sedlitz will win justice for us" "Win justice" Hitler asked rhetorically, "how to win" Hersmann smiled: "Because justice is within the range of artillery, as long as our battleships are in the North Atlantic, the world will know that justice belongs to Germany" t1706231537: