Chapter 433: Big Shots and Little People

In a small pub in London, the old man Greve was drinking with two British naval officers. Supplies were scarce throughout London, but at t

In a small pub in London, the old man Greve was drinking with two British naval officers. Supplies were scarce throughout London, but at the pub of a well-connected owner, fine wine and good food were still available in sufficient quantities.

“I hear the Germans have landed?” the old man asked, swirling the wine in his glass as he spoke to his friend, the submarine commander from a few days prior. “These are truly troubled times…”

“A few days ago, I was ordered to sea to attack the German transport lines. I ended up being hunted by a destroyer and was lucky to make it back,” the submarine commander sighed, his voice tinged with dissatisfaction and resentment. “Not everyone can have the good luck of the Odin.”

“The situation at the front is very bad. Some important documents have already been rushed to Liverpool. I hear they’ll be put on ships and sent to Canada,” the technical officer said. “The King has ordered all scientists and technical personnel to register with the government and be ready to leave at a moment’s notice.”

“Has that plan you mentioned a few days ago been put into motion?” old man Greve asked, narrowing his eyes.

“Yes. The King and the Prime Minister have ordered the execution of ‘Operation Silent Mourning.’ All war resources are to be rushed to Canada, including materials, technical personnel, blueprints, scholars, works of art, and gold.”

“They’re certainly thorough… Instead of thinking about how to defeat the Germans, they’re executing their escape plan with such speed,” the submarine commander said, clearly unhappy with this arrangement. He despised such cowardly behavior.

The technical officer spread his hands. “The troops at the front must, of course, think about how to win the war. But as the leaders of the nation, they must consider how to respond if the worst-case scenario occurs.”

And how would they respond? A portion of the British royal family had already fled to Canada, and another part was preparing to go to the Indian Ocean. Only the King’s immediate family still regularly attended public events in Britain. They had stated more than once that they would share the fate of the British mainland, but almost no one knew that the royal family would ultimately travel by submarine to seek refuge in Canada.

The war was expanding. British forces in North Africa were attacking the colonies controlled by the Italian army and the Vichy French government. However, another French North African force under de Gaulle had been ordered to join the British, and the two forces, belonging to different French governments, were now fighting each other on the battlefields of Africa. For a time, North Africa was ablaze with conflict.

Turkey was continuing to send more of its troops to the Middle East. Although its war preparations were still insufficient and it had not yet decided to board Germany’s pirate ship, as a local power in the Middle East, Turkey’s every move still struck fear into the hearts of the British garrisons in the oil regions.

On the Chinese front, Japan was still holding back against the Soviet Union. However, its ground forces, with naval and air support, had captured Guangzhou in China and were in a standoff with the British garrison in Hong Kong. What frightened the British even more was that Japan had landed in Vietnam and declared the French colony officially independent.

“Is the British royal family really planning to just run away like this?” old man Greve asked, seemingly unable to believe that Britain’s leaders would so easily abandon the British Isles.

“What else can they do? Ireland is already exchanging flirtatious glances with the German government, and it seems they have reached a consensus on some form of cooperation. We certainly won’t give up the northern mountains easily, but we don’t have a concrete plan on how to defend them yet,” the technical officer said with a sigh after taking a sip of his wine. “We don’t want to retreat either, but I hear the Germans have already taken Norwich…”

“What? Norwich has fallen?” Greve’s face fell. He quickly turned to the submarine commander and pleaded, “My dear fellow… can you arrange for a ship to Canada? I’ll sell some of my assets in the next few days and open a small pub over there…”

“There are ships, and it wouldn’t be difficult to get you on one to Canada… but you don’t know, the German submarine activity on the routes has been rampant recently. I’m worried about your safety, old friend…” the submarine officer replied after a moment’s thought.

“I can pay a large sum of money. If that’s not enough, a warship?” Old man Greve was a rich man, and so he seemed all the more afraid of death.

“Now, now, you know how it is. I hear you know someone in naval personnel… Could I trouble you, old man, to pull some strings for me, put in a good word, and get me and my family to Canada… I hear they need submarines over there too, you know,” the submarine commander, who usually seemed so honest and patriotically stubborn, said in a soft tone that almost made the technical officer spit out his drink.

“No problem. We’ll all leave on your submarine together, Vicky and I… Shouldn’t be a problem, right?” Greve said, clapping the technical officer on the shoulder. “We’ve been friends for ten years, we can’t be separated. If it weren’t for Little John…”

“Say no more. The country is in peril. He gave his life. It was his honor. To Little John!” The three men raised their glasses and toasted the destroyer captain. This man, “Little John,” had died two days ago in the North Atlantic, his ship sunk at night by a German submarine, disappearing with his vessel into the icy waters.

While these three men were raising their glasses, another John, a corporal at the London air defense command, was in the air-raid shelter where his family lived, sitting on his mattress and staring blankly at two hand grenades.

These were the self-defense weapons issued to the citizens of London by the London Defense Command. But everyone knew that these weapons were less for self-defense and more for taking the German invaders with them to the grave. John just couldn’t understand why they had come to such a life-or-death struggle with the Germans. Didn’t the conventions say that civilians had the right to be protected?

He could faintly hear someone sobbing. After all, not everyone was willing to die for nothing. John didn’t know what others were thinking, but he just couldn’t understand why His Majesty the King still had no intention of negotiating peace. After all this fighting, was there still any possibility of a British victory?

London was already almost a ruin. He had heard that the German army had landed near Norwich. Even if they won this war, the British would probably have nothing left in the end. Why continue to fight under these circumstances? John didn’t know, and he didn’t want to know.

“If, and I mean if, the Germans make it to London, you must take the children and survive! It’s enough for me to die alone. Me dying for the country is no different from our whole family dying together…” John whispered to his gaunt wife. “You must raise our children for us, do you understand?”

His wife said nothing, only silently wiped away her tears. Not far away, Mrs. Mary was also sobbing in her husband’s arms. The entire air-raid shelter was filled with an atmosphere of sorrow.

Due to the weather and the concentration of the German air force for the bombing of Norwich, London had not been bombed for the past few days. But the city was no different from a ruin, so living in a basement or an air-raid shelter was no different from living in the ruins on the surface.

John tucked the blankets around his sleeping children, gently kissed their foreheads, and got up. He walked to the corridor outside Mary’s family’s space. His officer patron saw him coming, nodded, and said a few more comforting words to Mary. He then placed the two hand grenades issued to his wife by her pillow, got up, and walked out with John.

“I’m trying to find a way to get my son to Canada…” the officer said, lighting a cigarette and not bothering to hide it from John. “Whether it succeeds will depend on the next few days… My ability only goes so far. I can’t take your family with me.”

“Thank you…” John knew that his patron couldn’t solve everything. The fact that his life had not been so miserable during the bombing of London was all thanks to this benefactor. So he was extra grateful and nodded his thanks.

“It’s been a real pleasure knowing you in such bad times,” the officer said, extending his hand and shaking John’s. “I submitted a report today promoting you to sergeant. Take care of my wife for me these next few days. I will do my best to get a spot for you, or at least for one of your children to get on the ship with Mary.”

“Thank you! Thank you for your help!” John immediately felt a glimmer of hope. He smiled his thanks, and as he did, his eyes filled with tears. “If His Majesty the King asks me to be loyal to Britain, I can die. But my children and my wife should not be held responsible for this war. They should be able to live…”

The officer sighed. “That is the right way of it, indeed. But which of the officials up top, or the Germans, will listen to reason from us?”

He pointed to the ruins in the distance. “In this great city of London, all it takes is a few hundred fools who think they are patriotic enough to take the Germans with them. If they pull the pins on their grenades and cause casualties among the German troops, do you think the Germans will spare the rest of the British people? They will just shoot any target they deem dangerous, forcing other British people to pull the pins on their grenades… It’s a vicious cycle that will continue until one side is wiped out.”

“My God…” The short-sighted John finally understood what kind of deadly trap he was in. Those diabolical officials, those so-called British elites, had used such a method to make the common people who loved the British Empire shed their blood, all so they could win a hollow “victory.”

“Victory? Fucking victory!” John cursed viciously in his heart.