Nanyang 1931: From piglets to giants

Chapter 256 It’s just a defeated country. Is it necessary to pamper it?

The reason why we had to go to Bangkok the next day was, of course, because Zheng Yi had to go to Singapore that day.

"Sir Goode, you have really given me a very difficult problem."

In Singapore, at the British Naval Office, Zheng Yi didn't even bother to report, and he walked straight into Goode's office with his bodyguards. He took the chair and sat opposite him without any courtesy, completely ignoring what he was doing.

Seeing this, Good was not annoyed. Although he was surprised that Zheng Yi would do such a rude and arrogant thing, he also knew that Zheng Yi was angry and it was not appropriate to have a direct conflict with him.

After sending the female secretary away, Good took out a box of cigars from the drawer and shared them with Zheng Yi before saying, "Mr. Zheng, are you here for the French army?"

Zheng Yi: "Since the Japanese surrender, although there have indeed been some conflicts and contradictions between me and you British, you instigated Malay nationalism and fundamentalism to attack me, but I never came to you to settle the score, right?"

"I'll still let you station the navy in Singapore, right? I only gave the Javanese a batch of arms, and there hasn't been any follow-up, right? We have our conflicts, but we also have our cooperation. How much of the SAARC's annual profits goes to you British multinational corporations? Are you kidding me?"

After a burst of discussion, Zheng Yi put the cigar in his mouth and asked Good to stand up and light it for him.

Goode: "Mr. Zheng, you are so angry for no reason. I just learned yesterday that the French army attacked the national army in Haiphong Port. But what does what the French army do have to do with us British?

You can't take your anger out on the British army just because the French army is far away and you can't reach them."

Zheng Yi couldn't help but sneer when he heard this. "Really? I heard that the French also have British and Indian troops. You British are quite generous. It's okay to help the Dutch, but why are you helping the French too? Aren't you two old enemies?"

"Besides, don't take me for a fool. Wasn't Leclerc sent back by you British? Does the French still have a navy? Don't think I don't know that the light reaction force under his command was originally from your British army."

"Sir Goode, I can tolerate you guys messing with the natives, but now you're dropping bombs on us Nanyang Chinese. Do you think I'm easy to bully?"

As he spoke, Zheng Yi banged on the table, not giving Good any face at all.

Goode: "Mr. Zheng, calm down. The Light Reaction Force was indeed under British command during World War II, but that was wartime, and they were all French. After the war, of course we had to return it to France and put it under French command."

"As for the British Indian troops, hey, others may not know, but Mr. Zheng, how could you not know? India, we in the UK have long lost control of it. To be honest, it is only a matter of time before they want independence."

"The so-called Anglo-Indian Army is mostly composed of Sikhs. Rather than being loyal to Great Britain, it's better to say that they are only loyal to the British pound. As long as the French pay them, they will naturally be exploited."

"Well, I'll be in charge of communicating with Marshal Meng. Now, immediately, immediately, withdraw all the British and Indian troops from the Hanoi front, okay? Actually, your relationship with the Indians is better than ours."

"But... you just said that those in Hanoi are... Nanyang Chinese? Mr. Zheng, let me confirm with you, are General Lu and his troops your subordinates?"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Yi leaned back in his chair, paused for a moment, and then nodded, "There's a problem back home. General Lu might be leading some of his own troops back."

"The principle of the Southern Alliance has always been... all the Chinese who have left the country and live in Southeast Asia are my people. What's the problem?"

Goode: "Ah, no, no, of course not. I just don't understand why you say that... Ah~, forget it, I won't ask."

It is actually a good thing that Zheng Yi is involved in this matter. At least, it will greatly disperse the power of the Southern Alliance.

Neither France nor SAARC is obviously a friend to the UK. It would be better if these two groups could come to blows, so that the British can have the best of both worlds.

In fact, although Zheng Yi came to him angrily, as if he was going to call him to task, Good was very happy in his heart.

Because if the French had not intervened, he would not have met Zheng Yi. He had been back as the British Governor of the Far East for such a long time, but he had only met Zheng Yi a few times. It was Li Xiaoshi and Chen Liushi who came forward to deal with him.

He seemed to be arrogant and domineering, but he knew that since Zheng Yi took the initiative to come to him, he must be asking for help. Therefore, he was neither anxious nor angry. In front of Zheng Yi, he made a phone call and asked someone to transfer the call to Marshal Meng in Kolkata, asking him to withdraw the British Indian Army.

After hanging up the phone, he smiled and said, "Actually, Mr. Zheng, you know that the relationship between us British and the French has never been very good, and there are many conflicts. The reason we were able to provide a little help to the French army this time was mainly to suppress the Communists. During the Anti-Japanese War, that man surnamed Hu... Mr. Zheng, you must be familiar with him, right?"

Zheng Yi didn't comment and just nodded.

"To be honest, everyone in Britain is quite annoyed with the French. It's just that the British Empire suffered a huge loss of power after the war and has completely lost the ability to intervene remotely."

"But we're also afraid of the rise of an overly powerful local communist force in Indochina. It's hard to say whether it will affect the interests of the British Empire. Honestly, from a neighboring perspective, it's better for the place to fall into the hands of the French than the communists. After all, nationalism and communism are contagious."

"If Mr. Zheng's SAARC can replace France, we would certainly be happier. After all, there are still some British companies in SAARC, and our interests are far more aligned with those of France."

Zheng Yi: "In that case, could you, the British army, please cut off the French army's supplies? The French mainland is so far away from the Far East. As far as I know, the French should no longer have any warships. Do you dare to say that their supplies are not provided by you, the British?"

Goode: "How can you say that we, the UK, supplied them? It seems that the two Leclerc warships were leased from the Americans. Our relationship with them is just a normal commercial trade. Maybe we do sell them some things."

"Mr. Zheng, after all, we are allies who have fought in the trenches together. Now that the war is just over, you can't let the British Empire use its naval superiority to sanction France. That doesn't make sense."

Zheng Yi interrupted, "I heard that during the war, you British proposed to incorporate Syria, Lebanon and other places into British colonies, but President Dai rejected it, and it seems he was quite arrogant."

"This kind of behavior, in our Chinese understanding, is called eating soft rice and hard eating. Wouldn't you British people be annoyed by this?"

"There's a war about to break out in the Middle East. I've already invited Mrs. May to Penang. We've decided to fully support the Jewish people in establishing a state in the Middle East. If nothing unexpected happens, we'll sell them some planes and even help train their army. The location where they're establishing their state seems to be quite close to the Levant."

"How about a deal? We in the South Asian Alliance support the independence of the Free Syrian Army. At the same time, Penang will refuse to accept oil from the Syrian region. And I will join forces with the United States to impose a blockade on the French troops in Syria... Could you help to make some problems with the French army's logistics?"

Goode: "Oh~, the Middle East? God, to be honest, um... I personally sympathize with the plight of the local people in Syria and Lebanon. Although what the Free Army did is a bit extreme, it is also a just cause.

But I am the Governor-General of the Far East after all, and matters in the Middle East are not my responsibility. Um... I may need some time to communicate with my colleagues."

Simply put, in the Middle East, the British rule had been severely shaken, and they even had to find Jews to stir up trouble. However, in the French colonies, which were also colonies, the French power was still strong.

Did the French have a more stable control over their colonies?

Especially Syria.

If that position falls into the hands of the French, the British will also be upset.

From the British point of view, of course they hope: since I can't keep my colonies, you French would better get out of here with me.

Even if there is no substantial benefit, they will be very happy to have the French accompany them when they leave.

Besides, how could there be no benefits?

Zheng Yi knew that Goode was being fearless and thought he had him under control. He said, "Sir Goode, I hope we can have a pleasant cooperation. If we don't... I'm also very interested in New Zealand beef."

Good smiled. "Really? I like it too. The beef there is indeed very good. But Mr. Zheng, France is, after all, a long-established great power. If you divert the fire from the Southeast Asian issue to the Middle East, I'm afraid Paris will think you are seriously provoking France."

Zheng Yi: "Haha, it's just a defeated country. Do I need to indulge it?"

(End of this chapter)