Chapter 404: Hunger Action (20)

Just as Lord Adams left, the secretary ran in in a panic. "Mr. Prime Minister, Mr. Prime Minister, the Germans are broadcasting that they are going to bomb our coastal cities!"

"What?!" Churchill was shocked. "What did they say?!"

The secretary walked quickly to the radio next to him, turned on the radio and tuned the channel. Soon, accompanied by the crackling sound of electricity, the Germans' broadcast came from the radio. Because it was broadcast to the UK, the broadcast was also in English. "... After 24 hours, our bomber unit will indiscriminately bomb all towns and cities near the English Channel. Please leave the city as soon as possible to avoid unnecessary casualties."

"Damn it!" Churchill slammed the table. He had already anticipated the consequences of this broadcast. "These despicable bastards are actually going to attack civilians!" Although he was angry, he could do nothing about it.

Because at this time, the only stripes on the protection of civilians in the laws of war were some scattered provisions in the annex to the Hague Convention No. 2 of 1899 and the Hague Convention No. 4 of 1907.

More detailed legal provisions for the protection of civilians had to wait until 1949, when the Geneva Convention would issue a more specific "Geneva Convention on the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War" based on the above provisions. These include "prohibition of the destruction of undefended towns and villages; prohibition of killing, coercion, abuse and expulsion of peaceful residents" and other provisions.

Unfortunately, this article will not appear until 10 years later, so even if Churchill appeals to the international community now, there will not be much response.

The Germans will say that they did this to force the British government to surrender as soon as possible. If the British government does not want civilians to be harmed, then surrender is fine.

What will Churchill say then? Say that he will never surrender even if all the civilians in the British Empire die? !

"Notify them to hold an emergency meeting."

As soon as the broadcast came out, the British people along the coast were in chaos.

This time Dowding dared not guarantee that a German bomb would not fall. Even if he could, few British people would believe him. Last time, the Germans had clearly warned in advance that they would bomb London, but that idiot Churchill said that he would never let a bomb fall into London. As a result, London is still under bombardment.

Residents of coastal towns fled their hometowns with their families, taking all the transportation they could find, carrying all the belongings they could take away, just wanting to leave the city that was about to be bombed.

On the roads from the southern coast to the northern inland, the fleeing convoys stretched for dozens of kilometers, and a large number of vehicles and people continued to pour out of the villages and towns along the way to join this huge migration team, and many sections were seriously congested.

Some people piled all their property on the top of the vehicle, from pots and pans to fashionable furniture, boxes and bags, food and drink supplies, piled up a small mountain, seriously blocking the view of the vehicles behind, and thus causing many traffic accidents.

On this chaotic road. All class divisions have become blurred. Whether you drive a Rolls-Royce or a half-ton Ford, God treats everyone equally, and no one will run faster just because they are noble.

The meeting room in the Prime Minister's Office in London was also noisy. "Will the Germans not land at this time?" An officer whispered with a hint of fear.

Churchill frowned and thought for a long time, then shook his head. "It shouldn't be. The Germans are crazy to launch a landing war in winter." Launching a landing war in such cold weather? He would never do this.

Everyone looked at each other in surprise. Dowding coughed lightly and said. "But the Germans often don't play by the rules."

At the beginning, everyone said that the Germans were crazy to challenge Britain and France, but the reality slapped everyone in the face. Germany not only challenged, but also kicked over France, the most powerful country in Europe, and pressed Britain to the point of suffocation.

In this way, it would not be surprising even if Germany launched a landing war now.

"..." Churchill hoped that the Germans would launch a landing now. It was not that he was crazy, but if the Germans launched a landing offensive now, the British Empire would still have a chance to stop the Germans from landing. However, as time went on, the British Empire's situation would become worse and worse. Maybe when the Germans landed, a large number of people would raise white flags to welcome the German army.

"Should we distribute ammunition supplies to the front-line soldiers?"

This question also stumped Churchill. Supplies of course include food. If they are distributed now, what if the Germans did not launch a landing war? Can the distributed food be taken back? After hesitating for a long time, he finally shook his head. "Observe the movements of the German army again."

After a long silence, he put down the cigar in his hand and ordered. "Send someone to Germany to contact the German high-level officials to discuss peace talks. As long as it can delay time, any conditions can be agreed to!"

He had contacted the German ambassador to Switzerland through the British ambassador to Switzerland before, but no results were reached at that time. This time he decided to send someone directly to Berlin to convey Britain's idea of ​​"wanting peace".

The Germans naturally want peace, but they also know that it is not easy to achieve true peace.

After all, Britain is the empire on which the sun never sets, the former world hegemon, the king of the seven seas! It is not easy to make a veteran world hegemon like Britain lower its proud head.

The Netherlands back then is a lesson for us!

At that time, Britain defeated the Spanish maritime hegemony, broke the colonial monopoly of Spain and Portugal, and stood out, gradually developing into a late-rising but powerful colonial power. Its struggle with the Dutch colonial power was not only inevitable, but also required the monopoly of sea power, raw materials, and markets, so it developed from competition and plunder to armed conflict.

The First Anglo-Dutch War was launched by the Netherlands on July 28, 1652, in order to fight back against the Navigation Act passed by the British Parliament in 1651 against the Netherlands' control of trade brokerage rights. In addition to combat operations in the coastal waters of the two countries (such as the Battle of Plymouth in 1652, the Battle of Newport in 1652 and 1653, and the Battle of Portland in 1653), naval battles were also fought simultaneously in the Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean, and the straits connecting the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. The British warships were equipped with more advanced artillery and had advantages in both quantity and quality, so they defeated the Dutch navy and imposed a blockade on the Dutch coast, forcing the Netherlands to sign the Treaty of Westminster on April 14, 1654. According to this treaty, the Netherlands actually recognized the Navigation Act.

But the war did not end like this. The Netherlands, unwilling to fail, declared war on Britain again ten years later, and then another war broke out; after more than 20 years of wars for maritime hegemony, although the Dutch maritime strength was greatly weakened, it still did not completely lose to Britain in military terms. It was not until the end of the War of the Spanish Succession in 1713 that Britain's maritime hegemony was well deserved.

In this way, it is not easy to make such an old empire completely surrender. As long as their own homeland is not completely occupied and they still have spare power when they surrender, they will definitely turn the world upside down in the future.

Therefore, if they do not defeat the British navy, land on the British mainland, and beat the British to the point where they can't raise their heads, they will never truly surrender to Germany.