Chapter 209: The British Calculation

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In a small conference room next to the Prime Minister’s office in London, the most powerful men in Britain were holding an important meeting.

Beneath a massive portrait of the King of England, a minister placed his hand on the conference table and began, “A war between France and Germany, isn’t that precisely the goal we have always wished to see?”

“That is true, but what we are even less willing to see is a powerful and westward-looking Soviet Union finishing off a weak France and a weak Germany,” another politician in a suit said, spreading his hands helplessly. “We now, at least for now, need a slightly stronger Germany to guard the eastern gate for all of Europe, don’t we?”

“Merkel’s special envoy has also assured us that they are preparing for a war with the Soviet Union, and that the German army needs time to expand its numbers and equipment.”

Churchill snorted coldly. “My God! How much more do they need to expand? I’ll bet they have at least two million troops now, twice as many as us. And you still dare to use their assurances as an excuse? All of that damn Führer’s assurances have ultimately been proven to be lies!”

“You are the First Lord of the Admiralty. In fact, you know best the threat the Germans pose to us! The last time their navy sortied in full force, they were scared off by our fleet,” a minister said optimistically. “And in fact, Germany did deliver the two giant battleships we ordered, and their quality is very good. At least in terms of naval cooperation, our two countries have a good precedent.”

“You can say that to the German High Seas Fleet,” Churchill said angrily. “They don’t build battleships because their Führer has bet everything on aircraft carriers. Our intelligence personnel in the Kiel naval port have discovered that they are building another two carriers. If you include the two that have already been launched and are being fitted out, the Germans are planning to build at least six carriers. This is not good news for us!”

“Churchill’s worries are not without reason. I suggest we accelerate the technological improvement of our naval aviation. At the very least, we cannot allow the German Air Force’s fighters to continue to do as they please over Europe,” an elderly minister said with a nod. “This point must be addressed as soon as possible.”

“Both the army’s and the navy’s fighter projects have encountered technical problems to varying degrees. The navy insists on using the Roc fighter with a rotating turret, but the army is not satisfied with the similarly designed Defiant,” a person in charge of technology reported.

Churchill said with a displeased expression, “I have heard about the navy’s situation, but we are already very familiar with the Fw-190D fighter that the German army has put into combat in Poland. The performance of this single-seat fighter is simply too good. In comparison, the performance of our planes is very average.”

“We once smuggled two German export-model Me-109C fighters from Spain. This fighter is very advanced, so I once suggested that the relevant departments mass-produce a copy. However, considering the problem of combat identification and various other reasons, many ministers and the technical departments insisted on researching our own fighter,” the head of the technical department reported. “So we began to develop a new fighter project at that time, codenamed ‘Spitfire’.”

Britain had been stimulated by the Spanish Civil War to begin developing new fighters as early as 1936. At the beginning, the Defiant and the Roc were chosen, both using a unique turret design. However, many in the military always felt that these planes were not as powerful as Germany’s single-seat Me-109C.

Thus, at the beginning of 1937, the British Rolls-Royce company provided a more powerful aero-engine, and a new fighter project began at the same time. A single-seat fighter called the Spitfire was designed. This fighter had speed and dogfighting performance that was not inferior to the German fighters. Apart from its complex wing, which made the plane somewhat expensive, it had almost no drawbacks.

However, the British also made corresponding changes in comparison to the German fighters. British fighters used 12.7mm machine guns as their main armament. This was because after comparison, the British designers and military believed that the ammunition load of the German fighters, with their 30mm nose cannon and 20mm wing cannons, was too small and not suitable for prolonged aerial combat.

Speaking of which, one must mention the family-style design of German military aircraft advocated by the Führer. Under Akado’s leadership, the Fw-190D fighter series was divided into two basic models from the very beginning. One was a high-altitude interceptor equipped with a liquid-cooled engine and large-caliber cannons specifically for dealing with bombers. The other was a low-altitude dogfighting fighter with an air-cooled engine, equipped with one 30mm nose cannon and four 13mm machine guns.

It was clear that British intelligence had only seen the German high-altitude interceptor version of the Fw-190D, so the British had always believed that the German Air Force’s fighters had an insufficient ammunition load. In fact, German Air Force pilots generally preferred the four-machine-gun configuration, because they did not have to frequently return to base to replenish ammunition and could stay in the air for a longer time.

Therefore, the military was very satisfied with this fighter design and had confirmed a procurement intention for 1,500 planes. It was just that the progress of this plane was slow due to a lack of senior design personnel, and the first test flight plane had crashed a few months ago. This meant that the Spitfire fighter was still a long way from entering service. In the meantime, Britain could only rely on the Defiant and the Roc to face Germany’s Fw-190D.

“What I want to know now is, when can this Spitfire, which has just had its test flight, be expected to enter service?” Churchill asked.

“If the test flights are smooth and the military continues to invest funds, it can probably be put into use at the beginning of 1939,” the man replied.

“The advice given by His Majesty the King’s technical advisor is that before 1939, we had best not engage in a direct armed conflict with Germany, to avoid unnecessary losses to the Royal Army and the Royal Air Force,” another minister added. “And both His Majesty the King and the Prime Minister are more interested in luring Germany to push east.”

“But now that Führer has mobilized his army and is preparing for a crazy war with France. This is not in the fundamental interest of the capitalist countries,” the British Chancellor of the Exchequer said with a helpless sigh. “I suggest we must contact Merkel and have him find a way to persuade that Mr. Führer of Germany to give up his crazy plan to fight France.”

“Will that Führer give up so easily? After all, the French forces did indeed launch a full-scale offensive this time. No one can easily tolerate such an attack,” the Foreign Secretary said, clearly not holding out much hope for such a plan at this time. “And especially not that extremely nationalistic German Führer.”

Churchill coughed twice. “I, on the other hand, think it will be more difficult to persuade the other side. The French have suffered a great loss this time. They have lost at least two thousand men in this attack. Under these circumstances, will they easily give up on revenge?”

“We will threaten and compensate both sides and try to complete the plan of His Majesty the King and the Prime Minister,” the Chancellor of the Exchequer said after a moment’s thought. “We will sanction the French economy and then promise the French to mobilize ten army divisions. They will compromise. On the other hand, we will use the navy to blockade Wilhelmshaven and promise the Germans to smuggle a batch of rubber and steel to them.”

“Then there’s nothing to be nervous about. If we operate like this, they will both certainly compromise. The European continent will not bleed and sacrifice while the Soviet Union is attacking Poland,” an elderly minister said, his voice a little hoarse. “This time, it was the French who acted alone, leaving us out. This is a very bad omen. We might as well favor the Germans a little more this time.”

As expected, the Germans were unrelenting this time. Führer Akado issued a full mobilization order, announcing the completion of preparations for total war before 1939 and the expansion of the army to 3.5 million men. Akado once again gave a speech, claiming that France was making trouble behind their backs, disregarding the greater good, and secretly supporting the communist invasion of Europe.

However, a British special envoy in Turkey contacted personnel from the German Foreign Ministry. They promised Merkel to provide Germany with steel, rubber, and oil, and requested that Germany cancel its war mobilization order and abandon its crazy plan to attack France.

But on the other hand, the French attitude gave the British diplomats a sigh of relief. The French Commander-in-Chief assured Britain that he would not send any more troops to provoke Germany and was willing to provide convenient conditions for the British government’s mediation. The French troops stationed in Luxembourg retreated 10 kilometers as a gesture of goodwill.

The retreat of the French army eased the tense situation on the Western Front, and the German army did not press its advantage. They stopped at the border and did not cross into the Maginot Line. This move clearly gave the British government enough face. That same day, a smuggling ship flying the Turkish flag, under the watchful eyes of German diplomats, set sail from a Mediterranean port, fully loaded with rubber, bound for Wilhelmshaven, Germany.

Führer Akado’s posturing had once again yielded good returns. The original German goal of starting the war on the Western Front in 1938 was finally realized with the help of the British government. The army generals, led by Brauchitsch, breathed a sigh of relief. The Navy Commander, Raeder, who had been trapped in the Wilhelmshaven naval port, was so overjoyed he wept. He now completely believed that Akado was the soul of the German Navy.

A major war on the Western Front that was on the verge of breaking out thus vanished without a trace. The Poles, who had been hoping for the outbreak of a Franco-German war, finally believed the fact that they had been sold out. The French had slightly fulfilled their obligations as allies but had given up at the last moment. Warsaw was now isolated and helpless. And the Soviet Union had already broken through the unsupported Soviet-Polish border. A large number of Polish refugees were flooding into the German-occupied zone, because the Red Army from the east was clearly more brutal than the Germans.

And at this very moment, Akado was concerned with the expansion of Student’s paratrooper force. He had split the original 1st and 2nd Parachute Divisions and assigned them to five brand new parachute divisions. Now, these troops were training hard at the foot of the Alps, practicing their skills for their future world-shaking achievements.