Chapter 344 Weeding Plan (2)

In modern British military history, there is such a field marshal: he was brave, resourceful and innovative. In World War II, when the war situation in North Africa was in danger, he served as the commander-in-chief of the British forces in the Middle East and turned the tide. It laid the foundation for Britain and the United States to finally defeat Rommel. However, unfortunately, the first people to recognize his military talents were not the British, but his rivals, the Germans. In Rommel's view: "He is the only one among many British generals who has the talent of a general, and his ability is far better than that of Montgomery." "above"

He was Claude Auchinleck, who was awarded Field Marshal in 1947 and finally established his status as a famous general.

Claude John Al Auchinleck, graduated from Wellington College, joined the 62nd Pungabis Regiment in 1904.

Served in Egypt and Mesopotamia during World War I. At the beginning of World War II, he commanded the British army to fight in northern Norway. Soon he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces in India. In 1941, when the 8th Army was in a bad situation, he took over as Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in the Middle East Theater. During his tenure, he successfully invaded Cyrenaica, but was repelled by Rommel. He organized the defensive operations of Alamein and created conditions for the victory of the Battle of Alamein. In 1943, he returned to India and resumed his duties as Commander-in-Chief of the British Army. He later served as the Supreme Commander of India and Pakistan, and was promoted to Field Marshal in 1946.

He was excellent both offensively and defensively, and remained calm in times of crisis. His only shortcoming was that he was too broad in command. Rommel believed that in terms of personal ability, he was much better than Montgomery, and he was the only British general he respected.

In the 35th year of this time and space, Auchinleck was promoted to major general and served as the brigade commander of the Peshawar Brigade. The following year, he was appointed as the deputy chief of staff of the British-Indian Army for his success in suppressing the local people's uprising. At the celebration banquet that night, an Indian waiter secretly poisoned the wine and poisoned a dozen British officers, including Major General Auchinleck, on the spot.

And so on, Yannick's "weeding plan" was implemented quite smoothly. Except for those characters who seemed to be wearing the halo of the protagonist and could not be killed no matter what, all the stumbling blocks were almost eliminated.

Yannick sighed. "Arrange an American passenger ship for Dr. Albert, review the passenger list, and prevent important people from boarding the ship. Sink the passenger ship in waters near British submarine activities. Put the blame on British submarines, and then we launch unrestricted submarines war."

"Unrestricted submarine warfare" is not Yannick's initiative, but a submarine warfare method implemented by the German Navy as early as World War I. That is, German submarines can sink any ship bound for the United Kingdom without warning in advance. merchant ships in the waters, the purpose of which was to blockade Britain.

Although the German army promised to avoid sinking neutral ships as much as possible, the captains of German submarines were instructed to ensure the safety of the submarines as their top priority due to concerns about the appearance of Q-type ships. Therefore, accidental attacks were inevitable, and the Germans hoped that such threats would deter neutral ships from entering British waters.

Because Britain and other Allied countries underestimated the seriousness of unrestricted submarine warfare, submarine defense was still in its initial stage. Unrestricted submarine warfare immediately caused serious losses to the Allied Powers. The losses of the Allied merchant ships increased from 300,000 tons in January 1917 to 400,000 tons in February, then soared to 500,000 tons in March, and then to 850,000 tons in April. On average, one in every four British merchant ships at sea was sunk.

That year, German submarines sank a total of 2,566 Allied merchant ships, with a total registered tonnage of 5.73 million tons, of which British merchant ships accounted for three-fifths. The total tonnage of British shipbuilding that year was only 2.7 million tons.

Britain vigorously promoted Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare and accused Germany of disregarding the laws of war of civilized nations. However, neutral countries believed that the British confiscation of all the cargo on the ship was not much better.

Although he was somewhat worried about the United States' reaction to unrestricted submarine warfare, Reinhard had become accustomed to obeying Yannick's instructions absolutely. "Understood, then when will Dr. Albert leave?"

"The sooner the better. If the United States dares to say anything, just say that they revealed Dr. Albert's whereabouts to the United Kingdom. The British target is Dr. Albert. The United States is also responsible for Albert's death." Britain Someone dared to attack a passenger ship and kill Dr. Albert. It is only natural that Germany should retaliate. If the Americans dare to say anything, dirty water will be thrown on their heads.

And Yanik was not too worried about America's response to unrestricted submarine warfare.

Unrestricted submarine warfare also resulted in the sinking of several American ships. These events led to the United States severing diplomatic relations with Germany and halting all trade. However, the sinking of the U.S. merchant ship did not cause the U.S. Congress to vote in favor of the war. The Germans' more risky and radical actions were the direct reason for the United States' participation in the war.

In early 1917, German Foreign Minister Zimmermann sent a telegram to the German Embassy in Mexico, requesting an alliance with Mexico. Germany would fully help Mexico regain the American states of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. The telegram was intercepted by the British and handed over to the U.S. Secretary of State Lansing. On March 1, at the behest of U.S. President Wilson, the contents of the telegram were made public and confirmed by Zimmerman himself.

This was the Zimmerman cable incident that triggered the United States to enter World War I. On April 6, the United States declared war on Germany.

Therefore, as long as Germany does not reach out to the American continent, the Americans will not have any big reaction even if a few ships are sunk.

"And did the emissary sent to Ireland gain anything?"

Reinhard lowered his head in shame. "They just said they would remain neutral and did not want to declare war on Britain."

There has always been a problem in Britain.

In its most powerful period, Britain almost conquered the whole world, but they did not conquer a nation that was close at hand. Although that nation was beaten by the British, it was never defeated.

This is the Kingdom of Ireland.

In 1801, the Kingdom of Ireland and the Kingdom of Great Britain were unified, and Ireland was incorporated into the United Kingdom. After that, the Irish independence movement began, and in 1916, the anti-British "Easter Uprising" broke out in Dublin.

In 1919, it was even more meaningful. At that time, most of the Irish MPs elected in the 1918 general election refused to serve in the British House of Commons. They formed the Irish Parliament on their own and issued a unilateral declaration of independence in the name of the independent "Republic of Ireland" in January 1919.

Of course, Britain would not agree. As a result, after fighting for several years, the final result was that Britain was forced to allow the 26 southern counties of Ireland to form a "free state", and the 6 northern counties still belonged to Britain.

After all, when they immigrated, a large number of Scots went to Northern Ireland, and at least some of them took root there. In this way, the full name of the United Kingdom became the United States of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which is almost a shame for the empire.

Although the south of Ireland became independent, they did not give up the opportunity to continue fighting. They wanted to unify Northern Ireland and become a country. They even established the IRA, short for the Irish Liberation Army, in 1919. They achieved political demands through various violent activities and became synonymous with terrorism.

It was not until 2006 that they signed a ceasefire agreement with the British government. That's right, it was just a "ceasefire" agreement. There was no surrender, just a state of truce.

Naturally, the British would not like such Ireland. There was even a saying that Ireland was just a pile of shit that God had pulled next to Britain.

Yannick sneered. "Remain neutral? Let the secret envoy tell them, will Germany be grateful for their neutrality? We don't need one more or one less ally. If you want to choose a side, do it as soon as possible. There is no such thing as a free lunch. If they want to remain neutral, we will not support their unification after we solve the British problem."

"Yes."

After Reinhard left, Yannick looked at the "chosen land" on the map and muttered softly. "Cripple, wait, you will cry sooner or later."