The Twilight of Empire: Starting from Dunkirk

Chapter 160 Rogue Diplomacy

"Your grand vision is impeccable, Arthur. But now, the very foundations of our Far East, the terminus of this vital artery, are facing an extremely serious and real threat."

Churchill's voice turned somber, filled with extreme vigilance.

He turned around, his thick fingers sweeping heavily across the Indian Ocean on the nautical chart, finally stopping at the scattered islands of Southeast Asia.

"I also think those Asian monkeys in the Pacific have been extremely unruly lately. The Japanese army is getting deeper and deeper into the quagmire of the war in the East, and their war machine is in a morbid state of hunger because of the threat of the American oil embargo. They are dangerous and crazy now. A hungry beast has no reason."

Churchill gave a heavy snort, and thick cigar smoke billowed from his mouth.

"Don't be fooled by the false humility of those Asian dwarfs over the past half-century." Churchill's eyes first showed extreme contempt, then turned to vigilance. "From the time of their so-called Meiji Restoration, these island politicians and naval officers in ill-fitting suits have been nothing short of groveling lackeys when facing Western powers, especially our Great British Empire."

The ash from a half-burnt cigar fell automatically into the ashtray, sparks flying: "They spend real money to buy up our shipyard's outdated blueprints, send their officers to the Royal Naval College, Greenwich to learn how to pilot dreadnoughts, and bow down almost to the deck in front of our Pacific Squadron Commander. They perfectly disguise themselves as the most docile and diligent students of the British Empire in the Far East."

"But Arthur. A student who has poured the nation's resources into learning how to build large-caliber naval guns and killing machines isn't meant to serve his teacher tea and water forever." Churchill's voice turned extremely somber. He understood perfectly well that only eternal interests existed between nations. "These monkeys have used that mask of humility to completely digest the heavy industrial base we've given them, even though, in our eyes, it's merely the beginning of industrialization."

"But now, their own shipyards are frantically launching cruisers and aircraft carriers. In recent years, they've grown very close to the Nazis, even forming the Axis powers, although they haven't directly declared war on us like the Italians and Germans have. But I have no doubt that these so-called students" have long been prepared to establish their own independent forces, or even to directly commit genocide."

Churchill turned around, his thick fingers sweeping heavily across the Indian Ocean on the nautical chart, finally stopping at the scattered islands of Southeast Asia.

"According to intelligence from MI6 agents in Tokyo, the radical faction within the Japanese Navy has set its sights firmly on our Malayan and Singapore fortresses. There lie the rubber plantations and vast tin mines they so desperately desire, the absolute lifeblood supporting the operation of any modern industrial nation. If we show even the slightest sign of weakness on the European battlefield, these beasts, who have been biding their time for decades, will not hesitate to shed their humility and use the naval tactics we taught them to seize the opportunity and frantically tear apart our most prosperous colonies in the Far East."

Churchill suddenly waved his short, stocky arm: "Once we have completely repelled the German attack in the Solent Strait and the Atlantic with the help of radar and escort fleets, and once the security of our homeland is absolutely guaranteed, I am prepared to personally order the selection of the most elite battleships from the Home Fleet and the Mediterranean Fleet, such as the newly commissioned HMS Prince of Wales, along with the battlecruiser HMS Repulse, to form an extremely powerful Far East Fleet, codenamed Z. We will send this steel fleet, composed of large-caliber guns, directly into the Singapore naval base."

Churchill's tone was filled with blind worship of battleships and cannons: "I'll show those Japanese what the Royal Navy's centuries-old heritage truly is! As long as our battleships, equipped with 14-inch and 15-inch guns, are docked at Changi Naval Base, the Japanese southward expansion plan will forever remain on the General Staff's draft paper. No Asian fleet will dare challenge the British Empire's battle line!"

Faced with Churchill's boastful words, which seem somewhat laughable to later generations, Arthur, unusually, abandoned his composed smile. His gaze became more serious than ever before, even carrying a kind of pity as if he were looking at a condemned prisoner about to be sent to the guillotine.

From the current point in time and from various perspectives, Churchill's blind confidence at this moment was not entirely unfounded.

According to intelligence from the British High Command, the current main surface fleet of the Japanese Combined Fleet does indeed have a very obvious industrial gap compared to the newly commissioned King George V-class battleships.

The HMS Prince of Wales, named by Churchill, was the second ship of the King George V class. Although it was subject to naval treaties, it had a very glaring inherent flaw in the initial draft of the construction drawings: the caliber of the main guns was strictly limited to 14 inches (356 mm).

But that's all.

Putting aside its somewhat conservative gun caliber, this 40,000-ton new battleship is definitely a heavily armored beast.

It boasts a 15-inch (approximately 381 mm) thick, surface-carburized, hardened vertical main armor belt, and an incredibly large, robust horizontal dome armor defense system. Most lethally, its main mast is being fitted with a microwave fire control radar that is a whole generation ahead of its time, upgraded by Sterling Electronics Laboratory itself.

As for the argument that the 14-inch main gun is not powerful enough, it is based entirely on an extremely harsh horizontal comparison.

That armor-piercing kinetic energy disadvantage would only be revealed when facing the Bismarck-class of the Third Reich, the Richelieu-class of the Gauls, the Veneto-class of the Italians, or even the North Carolina-class of the Americans on the slipway across the ocean—a host of super behemoths at the pinnacle of the world's heavy industry.

Keep in mind that the Germans across the strait were still using 280mm caliber main guns.

The 800-kilogram 14-inch armor-piercing round still possesses terrifying destructive power enough to tear apart more than 95 percent of the surface ships on this planet.

Conversely, its hypothetical enemies in the Far East—those active battleship groups regarded as gods by the Japanese Combined Fleet—would have their so-called "firepower disadvantage" instantly wiped out by a generational leap in defense and superior fire control technology.

The four Kongo-class battlecruisers, which formed the main mobile force of the Combined Fleet, were essentially just patchwork upgrades of blueprints from the Vickers shipyard in Britain before World War I. Although they had a high speed of 3,000 knots, their weak side armor was like a sheet of cast iron that could be punctured by the 14-inch heavy armor-piercing shells of HMS Prince of Wales. They could not withstand any direct hits from large-caliber naval guns, and even the 203mm main guns of heavy cruisers could penetrate their armor.

As for the Fusō-class and Ise-class battleships, which underwent numerous modifications, they were slow and had outdated defensive concepts. In particular, in pursuit of maximum optical observation range, they stacked layers on the mainmast, creating towering bridges that severely violated the principles of naval architecture. At night or in rough seas, this massive and extremely unstable superstructure was practically the perfect reflective target for the Royal Navy's new fire control radar, allowing it to crossfire even when firing blindfolded from thousands of kilometers away.

Even the Nagato-class battleships, which the Japanese are currently most proud of and which are equipped with 16-inch guns, still rely on the standards of the late World War I in their core protection logic. They are products from 2,000 years ago.

The Nagato-class's waterline main armor belt was only 305 mm (12 inches) thick at its thickest point. This thickness of surface-hardened steel was utterly ineffective against the 14-inch heavy armor-piercing shells fired by HMS Prince of Wales. Once engagement range entered the scale of conventional artillery battle, the kinetic energy of the 800 kg armor-piercing shells was enough to tear apart the Nagato-class's side armor plates.

Although HMS Prince of Wales might not be able to withstand Nagato's 410mm main guns, the two sides could penetrate each other's armor.

In battles between battleships, as long as the armor-piercing shell is sufficient to penetrate the enemy's armor, successfully smash into the enemy ship's core compartment and detonate, then whether the warhead is 280 mm or 460 mm caliber, the consequences are essentially the same.

The only criterion that truly determines the fate of the two 40,000-ton steel behemoths is who can launch the first cross-shot and hit the target.

Faced with the microwave fire control radar upgraded by Stirling Heavy Industries on the "Prince of Wales," the "Nagato" class ships could only rely on traditional optical rangefinders, which were like blind men in the face of sea fog and darkness, and did not even have the opportunity to seize the first firing right.

As for the Yamato-class super behemoth equipped with 18-inch main guns, it is currently still lying in the shipyard. Given the Japanese penchant for this and their "cherishing" of it, it is still unknown when the Yamato will be able to make its maiden voyage.

Therefore, in Churchill's calculations, as long as HMS Prince of Wales was paired with HMS Repulse, a high-speed battlecruiser capable of hunting down enemy heavy cruisers, and sailed directly into Changi Naval Base, it would be enough to create an absolute maritime deterrent in the Indian Ocean, forcing the Japanese landing fleet to stay obediently in port and not dare to move.

This logic was correct in a certain sense within the framework of the old era at the beginning of World War II.

But Arthur knew very well what would become of the Z Fleet—it would be sent to the bottom of the sea to be fed to fish, along with the valiant Admiral Phoenix, by Japanese land-based bombers.

Arthur's gaze became more serious than ever before, even carrying a hint of pity as if he were looking at a condemned prisoner about to be beheaded. He knew all too well that the rules of the Pacific battlefield had long since changed.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, if you really decide to send the Empire's most valuable battleships to the Far East, then I must inform you with great regret that you are sending thousands of excellent Royal Navy sailors and the Empire's dreadnoughts, which cost tens of millions of pounds to build, into a one-sided massacre with no chance of winning."

Churchill was stunned. His hand holding the cigar froze in mid-air, and his grand pronouncements came to an abrupt halt, making him look both comical and ridiculous.

Among the entire British Empire's military and political elite, there were very few who dared to refute his strategic decisions so directly and without reservation.

But Arthur was one of them.

"What nonsense are you spouting, Arthur?" Churchill's brow furrowed, his voice tinged with annoyance. "The Royal Navy's battleships are the most powerful combat platforms on the seas. Although the Japanese navy is large in scale, in a battle of capital ships, our armor thickness and main gun caliber are absolutely no match for those Asians! HMS Prince of Wales is more than capable of handling any Japanese battleship."

"Battleships are indeed the most powerful surface combat platforms on the ocean, but they are limited to the surface." Arthur showed no respect for Churchill's fantasies; the Prime Minister was clearly indulging in the glory of the old era, which was not a good thing.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, your assessment of the situation in the Far East remains stuck in the old era of the Battle of Jutland. You fail to realize that in the vast combat environment of the Pacific, where battles often span thousands of nautical miles, the rules of naval warfare have been completely rewritten."

Two-dimensional, planar artillery warfare is about to be replaced by three-dimensional, three-dimensional strangulation.

Arthur took up the coaching reins again, pinpointing the exact locations in Singapore and the Malay Peninsula.

"The shipbuilding philosophy of the Imperial Japanese Navy has undergone an extremely terrifying transformation in recent years. There are indeed rumors that the Japanese are secretly building super battleships with 18-inch main guns, but that is not the most terrifying thing. What is truly terrifying about the Japanese is the overwhelming superiority they have established in the field of naval aviation. They have established a complete beyond-visual-range strike system based on aircraft carriers and carrier-based aircraft."

Seeing Churchill's somewhat puzzled expression, Arthur explained, "Based on our analysis of intercepted Japanese naval radio signals, and the scattered cargo clearance intelligence provided by our commercial spies in the Far East, the Japanese Combined Fleet already possesses the world's largest and most rigorously trained aircraft carrier battle group. They are using these carriers in concentrated force, calling it the 'Mobile Force.'"

"Don't use the Royal Navy's current Swordfish attack aircraft, which can only carry laughable old-fashioned torpedoes and fly barely faster than an eagle, to measure the Japanese air power. That's an extremely fatal cognitive bias." Arthur's instructor drew a huge attack radius of 1000 kilometers in the southern sea area, which was a relatively conservative attack range.

"The Japanese had already deployed land-based twin-engine bombers with extremely long ranges and capable of carrying heavy aerial torpedoes, such as the Type 96 land-based attack aircraft and the latest Type 1 land-based attack aircraft produced by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The combat radius of these twin-engine bombers could even cover the entire waters surrounding the Malay Peninsula. Even more lethal, their aircraft carriers carried the extremely high-performance Zero fighters and Type 97 carrier-based attack aircraft. These aerial killers, composed of lightweight aluminum alloys and high-powered radial engines, had combat radii far exceeding the maximum range of any battleship's main guns."

"While your battleships are still searching for the enemy masts on the radar screen, the Japanese bombs are already overhead."

Arthur stared intently at Churchill, painting a picture of the inevitable horror: "If your Z Fleet enters that area without absolute air superiority, they won't be met with a barrage of fire from Japanese battleships. Instead, they'll be met with hundreds of Japanese attack aircraft, hundreds of nautical miles away, swarming down from the clouds like bees. They'll be carrying torpedoes, launching a cross-torpedo attack on your battleships from all directions. Because it's a cross-torpedo attack, no matter how frantically your captain turns the rudder, you'll inevitably expose the extremely vulnerable sides of the hull or the propellers to the torpedoes' tracks."

Even with its thick armor, the HMS Prince of Wales's anti-aircraft defenses were as fragile as infants against the overwhelming saturation fire of aerial attacks. Its eight-cell amphibious assault guns simply couldn't create a dense enough barrage to stop those high-speed dive aircraft.

"And those Asian monkeys you despise will, within two hours, send the British Empire's proudest Far East Fleet to the bottom of the sea with cheap aerial bombs and torpedoes costing less than one ten-thousandth the price of a battleship. Once the fleet's deterrent is gone, Singapore's proud fortresses and batteries will be meaningless, because the Japanese will launch a land attack from behind the jungles of the Malay Peninsula. Singapore will surrender without a fight."

The temperature in the basement seemed to drop by more than ten degrees.

Churchill bit his cigar tightly, his facial muscles twitching slightly, and cold sweat even beading on his forehead. He knew Arthur would never exaggerate in a serious military assessment, and so far, the man had been almost always right. And the Sterling family's intelligence network was always a hundred times more accurate than the outdated reports from the Admiralty's staff.

"If battleships cannot deter the Far East—" Churchill's voice suddenly became hoarse. He was hypothesizing, hypothesizing that his proud Royal Navy had lost its pride in the vast Pacific Ocean and the roar of warplanes, "What will we use to defend the rubber plantations of Malaya? Should we transfer our entire home air defense fighter squadron to the other side of the world? What will happen to home air defense then?"

"Fighter jets have limited range, and the airfields in the Far East, lacking depth, are extremely vulnerable to Japanese land forces. Land-based air defense alone is merely a passive defense." Arthur directly offered the ultimate solution, unveiling his long-planned shipbuilding program: "To counter aircraft carriers, we can only rely on them. The British Empire must immediately cease its blind worship of those cumbersome battleships and pour all its shipbuilding capacity into the construction of aircraft carriers. We will replace the main gun turrets with flight decks."

This is something Arthur has long wanted to say: the British Empire must launch its own massive aircraft carrier buildup campaign before that terrifying industrial machine across the ocean is fully operational.

However, we must not simply copy the American shipbuilding philosophy.

In pursuit of maximum aircraft capacity, the Americans built numerous aircraft carriers with bare wooden flight decks across the vast Pacific Ocean. While it must be acknowledged that Washington's naval engineers equipped them with exceptional damage control and highly sophisticated watertight compartment systems—their damage control system was indeed an engineering marvel—American sailors were even able to pull heavily damaged ships back from the brink of sinking amidst intense fire and high explosives.

But this is still essentially an extremely passive gamble with a very low margin for error—they are using the flesh and blood of their most skilled damage control personnel to fill the inherent gaps in the deck armor.

If hit by a single 500-pound high-explosive armor-piercing shell, the fragile wooden deck would be instantly torn apart. Until the deck is repaired, even if the ship doesn't sink, the aircraft carrier will be completely unable to launch and recover aircraft for a very long time, becoming nothing more than a piece of scrap metal on the sea, vulnerable to attack.

Arthur's fingers slammed heavily on the table, making a dull thud.

Arthur didn't want a carrier-based aircraft launch and landing platform that could only operate in the Pacific; he needed one that could cover both the Pacific and the Atlantic.

In the vast and deep Pacific Ocean, the U.S. Navy might have the space to undertake such a gamble of emergency repairs. But in the raging winds and waves of the Atlantic Ocean, or facing the high-density attacks of German Stuka dive bombers in the narrow Mediterranean Sea, losing the ability to take off and land would mean annihilation for the entire fleet.

Therefore, what the British Empire needed was not sturdy planks that could be pumped out and extinguished after being bombed. What they needed were steel behemoths that, from the very beginning, could withstand the kinetic energy of high-altitude armor-piercing rounds with their thick armor steel, and still force their aircraft to take off in the inferno of rough seas and overwhelming enemy air raids!

Arthur walked to the table and pulled out a very detailed draft of the engineering blueprint from the interlayer of the arsenal report, laying it flat on the green velvet tablecloth.

"This is the 'Illustrious-class' design jointly created by Stirling Heavy Industries and designers from the Navy."

The plan outlines improvements to armored aircraft carriers and concepts for a new generation of heavy fleet carriers. We will pave the flight deck with armor steel over three inches thick, and the hangar will be a completely enclosed armored box design, tightly wrapped in heavy steel plates.

Arthur pointed to the cross-sectional diagram of the core structure on the blueprint, his finger tracing heavily along the shading line representing the three-inch-thick armor steel, speaking rapidly: "Your Excellency, I must emphasize one point. Although the enclosed design of this heavily armored box will cruelly compress the internal space of the hangar, forcing us to sacrifice a portion of the absolute number of carrier-based aircraft, this sacrifice must not fall below the minimum operational capability."

In Arthur's view, the Royal Navy's original "Illustrious" class was an absurd shipbuilding joke. An aircraft carrier with a displacement of over 23,000 tons was to reduce its aircraft capacity to a pitiful 3,060 in order to build up armor.

Looking across the world's oceans at this moment, the main Japanese aircraft carriers, such as the "Akagi" or the "Shokaku" class currently being fitted out on the slipway, can easily cram seventy or eighty fighter jets into their dangerous and fragile hangars; while the Americans on the other side of the ocean, their "Yorktown" class aircraft carriers, and the new generation "Essex" class that is being frantically sketched on the blueprints, have insanely pushed this number to a terrifying scale of more than eighty or ninety aircraft.

In Arthur's view, the "golden ratio" of a perfect main fleet aircraft carrier is definitely seventy-five carrier-based aircraft.

This is the perfect value for maintaining a high-density air defense umbrella while simultaneously launching a devastating wave of strikes consisting of fighter jets, dive bombers, and torpedo bombers. Below this value, the carrier's offensive capability suffers a fatal gap; above this value, the deck's operational efficiency drops drastically, and the crowded hangar becomes a giant, high-explosive powder keg ready to explode at any moment.

Arthur suppressed his inner grumbling and continued, "A main fleet carrier like HMS Illustrious is meaningless if it can only carry a pitiful thirty or forty aircraft. The British Empire must not build such iron turtles that have no offensive deterrent power on the battlefield."

"Therefore, in this improvement plan, we have maximized the compression of non-combat compartments, adopted an extremely complex double-layer hangar structure, and comprehensively optimized the mechanical operating efficiency of the elevators."

"Although limited by the weight of the armor, I couldn't push it to my ideal theoretical limit of seventy-five aircraft, I still managed to forcibly raise the aircraft capacity of the 'Tejas' class to a hard standard of over sixty."

"These sixty-plus elite carrier-based aircraft, coupled with the heavy armor, will achieve a delicate balance between offense and defense." Arthur tapped his finger sharply on the blueprint of the armored deck. "It will ensure that our aircraft carrier has an extremely terrifying battlefield survivability when facing armor-piercing bombs from German Stuka dive bombers or Japanese aerial bombs. Even if the deck is directly hit by a 500-pound high-explosive warhead, the violent kinetic energy of the explosion will only leave a shallow crater in the surface-hardened steel, and will never penetrate the deck to ignite the ammunition magazines and high-octane aviation fuel below."

"Simply send a few bulldozers to roughly push the burning wreckage of our warplanes into the sea, and repair the craters with quick-setting cement. Half an hour later, our sixty warplanes will still be able to take off and land calmly on this unsinkable steel platform, launching a deadly counterattack. Meanwhile, those Japanese aircraft carriers, carrying seventy or eighty warplanes but poorly protected, would have long since become giant burning torches under the same attack. Your Excellency, this is the true cornerstone of maritime hegemony that the British Empire needs!"

"Besides," Arthur said, pointing heavily to the other side of the blueprint—where a rudimentary vessel was drawn—"I've already discussed with Marshal Pound the need to quickly fill the massive gap in Atlantic anti-submarine warfare and Far Eastern escort operations. "We must immediately initiate a large-scale production plan for escort aircraft carriers. Forget about waiting in line at shipyards for those extremely time-consuming military keels; directly requisition the hulls of Stirling Ocean Shipping Company's 10,000-ton bulk carriers and tankers. Cut off the superstructure, lay out a makeshift wooden flight deck, and install hydraulic catapults and arresting cables."

"Using the cheapest merchant ship steel and at the lowest cost, they were thrown into the sea like dumplings. They didn't need heavy armor, and their speed only needed to be 18-20 knots to keep up with the merchant convoy. As long as they could carry a dozen or so attack aircraft carrying radar and depth charges, they could create an anti-submarine umbrella with a radius of 200 nautical miles around the merchant convoy, becoming excellent hunters to strangle German U-boats."

Churchill leaned down and looked at the blueprint on the table, which was densely covered with industrial parameters, and the gloom in his eyes gradually dissipated.

His keen intuition told him that this was the only solution to maintaining the British Empire's maritime lifeline.

"Your analysis is very thorough, Arthur. Your warnings about the Far East have made me much more aware. The era of big guns and battleships is indeed coming to an end." Churchill straightened up and looked at Arthur. "So, having established this grand strategy based on aircraft carriers and absolute industrial capacity, your business advice to Roosevelt's opportunistic base-for-destroyers agreement is not only to refuse to sign it, but also to extort assets from the Americans?"

"This is not extortion, Your Excellency. This is about re-establishing the true market price of the assets in the transaction and solidifying the British Empire's dominance in the future world order."

Arthur walked back to the leather sofa and picked up the cup of black tea.

"Those pessimists in the cabinet only see the current bleeding of the British Empire, but they ignore the cards we hold in our hands. The Sterling family has extremely close ties with those people on Wall Street and has done countless transoceanic deals during the past period of industrial expansion. I know all too well the greedy nature ingrained in the bones of those New World speculators."

"If you bow down to them now and hand over the bases in the Western Hemisphere, it will be tantamount to voluntarily exposing your bottom line in the deal. Then in the war to come, they will take advantage of the situation and slowly drain the empire's gold reserves, sell off our overseas assets, and even force us to completely dissolve the sterling zone after the war, so that the dollar can become the world's only hegemonic settlement currency by stepping on the corpse of the British Empire."

A glint of ambition, typical of a top heavy industrial oligarch, flashed in Arthur's eyes: "The British Empire must never become a subservient force to the Americans. What we aim for is a perpetual empire on which the sun never sets, and even after the war, we will use our intact heavy industrial capacity and financial hegemony to unify Europe, which has been ravaged by war."

"We want the reconstruction of the entire European continent, from the steel bars of every bridge to the machine tools of every factory, to depend absolutely on Stirling Heavy Industries' steel and London's credit. By then, the Americans will still be nothing more than our lackeys, not the rule-makers of this planet."

Churchill was deeply impressed by Arthur's extremely grand and aggressive ambition. This was no longer simply about winning the war against the Axis powers; it was about prematurely dividing up the post-war world.

"Unifying Europe? That's an exciting idea. But Arthur, to achieve this kind of cross-century hegemony, we need an extremely stable strategic rear to support a long war of attrition."

"This is the short-term goal framework that I will now explain to you." Arthur put down his teacup, walked to the other side of the nautical chart, and slammed his pointer heavily on the African continent.

"In order to support the grand blueprint of unifying Europe, the immediate and absolute short-term goal of the British Empire should be to fully integrate our vast colonies in Africa while ensuring that the homeland is protected from the devastating attacks of the German Luftwaffe. We must turn Africa into the empire's resource reservoir and an unshakeable rear base."

Arthur's baton drew a remarkably clear battle line on the southern shore of the Mediterranean: "Especially considering the current strategic window of opportunity. In the naval battle a month ago, the Royal Navy had already sealed half the coffin for the main force of the Italian Navy at Taranto. This is crucial. With the absolute strength of the Mediterranean Fleet guaranteeing it, the Mediterranean is currently the inland lake of the British Empire. The Axis powers' maritime supply lines have been unilaterally cut off by us."

"Therefore, regarding the allocation of military forces," Arthur turned and stared into Churchill's eyes, "we can no longer afford to passively defend in the Egyptian desert. The Empire must immediately launch an extremely fierce local offensive against the Axis powers from North Africa. We must take advantage of the Italians' unstable foothold in Libya and their severe logistical shortages to completely destroy their desert legions."

Churchill frowned; he had been seething with anger about the situation in North Africa.

"Since you've mentioned North Africa, Arthur, I must complain to you about the Supreme Commander of the Middle East Command, General Archibald Wavell. That old man is far too cautious, even cowardly!" Churchill waved his arms roughly, expressing his extreme dissatisfaction with the frontline commander. "Just as you think, I've been urging him to launch an offensive every day in London, but he always complains to me about insufficient forces..."

Tanks lacked spare parts, and the desert climate was harsh. He held the Western Desert forces under Lieutenant General Richard O'Connor, including the well-equipped 7th Armored Division and the 4th Indian Infantry Division, yet he could only watch helplessly as the 10th Army, under the command of Italian Governor-General of Libya Rodolfo Graziani, loitered near the border!

"Intelligence indicates that Graziani has amassed a massive force of over two hundred thousand men, while we only have tens of thousands. Wavell always uses this figure to fob me off," Churchill said irritably, exhaling a smoke ring.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, if General Wavell only knows how to count heads, then he is not worthy of sitting in the position of Supreme Commander of the theater of operations. Two hundred thousand infantrymen lacking heavy firepower and mechanized vehicles are not an advantage in the vast desert, but rather an extremely terrible logistical disaster."

Arthur ruthlessly shattered the Italian army's paper-based deterrent: "The war in North Africa is not a battle of tactics at all, but a pure logistical contest. There is no water, no food, and no fuel in the desert. All supplies must be transported across the Mediterranean. And now, if any Italian transport ships dare to leave Naples, they will be sent to the bottom of the sea by our submarines and bombers."

"Look at the equipment Graziani has. Their L3 ultralight tanks have armor so thin even heavy machine guns can penetrate them, and their M11/39 medium tanks are like a bunch of toys wielding tin shields when facing our 7th Armored Division's Matilda infantry tanks. Even more ridiculous, they don't even have enough trucks to transport drinking water. Leave 200,000 men in the desert at 50-degree Celsius temperatures without a sufficient fresh water supply line; this army wouldn't last a week."

Arthur pointed heavily at the Egyptian border: "Therefore, you must immediately issue a death order to General Wavell, authorizing General O'Connor to launch a full-scale counterattack codenamed 'Compass.' Use our mechanized armored spearhead to directly cut off the Italians' fragile supply lines, dividing and encircling them. I believe that as soon as our tanks appear on their flanks, those two hundred thousand Italian soldiers, on the verge of collapse due to lack of water and despair, will be more than willing to raise the white flag to the Imperial army."

"But if we corner the Italians in North Africa, that madman in Berlin won't stand idly by." Churchill's shrewdness led him to consider the worst-case scenario. He tapped his cigar-smoking finger heavily on the Libyan coastline: "What if Little Mustache mobilizes the Wehrmacht's most elite armored units, like those that have distinguished themselves in France, and sends them across the Mediterranean to support North Africa? What if the Germans send their most formidable armored commanders, like that recently rising star Erwin Rommel, to form the Afrika Korps—"

At this point, Churchill suddenly let out a short, cold laugh: "Oh, if I remember correctly, a month ago in Le Havre, when you forcibly pulled the Reich's 51st Hill Division out of hell, you already had a face-to-face encounter with this German ruthless general commanding the 'Ghost Division.' I saw the battle damage assessment report submitted by the War Office; you ruthlessly smashed Rommel's proud 7th Panzer Division into a pile of riddled scrap metal, making him lose face in front of the German High Command."

Churchill took a deep drag on his cigar and steered the conversation back to the overall war situation: "But putting aside the tactical advantages you've gained on local battlefields, Arthur, if Rommel were to land in North Africa this time with a fully reorganized armored group, and you were to command our western desert forces, could you still withstand pure German steel?"

Faced with the Prime Minister's concerns about German intervention and that slightly sarcastic joke, Arthur gave a cold laugh of utter contempt.

"Rommel? I certainly witnessed his art of command in France." Arthur's tone was ambiguous, neither praising nor sarcastic. "In the fertile environment of the Central European plains, with its dense road network, well-developed railway system, and numerous gas stations and supply depots along the way, he was indeed a highly aggressive tactical genius. He knew exactly how to maximize the mobility of armored forces."

Arthur casually tossed the pointer on the table, and the wooden stick struck the Sahara Desert region on the sea chart with a dry, crisp sound.

"But in North Africa? In this desolate land where there is nothing but sand and 50-degree heat? No matter who Little Mustache sends, the so-called German Afrika Korps is destined to be nothing."

After his encounter with Rommel in France, Arthur's eyes no longer held any fear of the renowned general: "Because the desert doesn't recognize any tactical genius; the desert only calculates your port throughput and truck tonnage. Without naval supremacy, no matter how sharp Rommel's armored spearhead is, they will starve to death on the scorching dunes due to long supply lines and extremely scarce logistics."

"The Germans do not have a navy capable of controlling the Mediterranean. Even if Rommel sets foot on the African continent with his elite armored divisions, as long as the Italian navy remains useless, as long as the Royal Navy's battleships are still patrolling Alexandria, and as long as we firmly control the unsinkable aircraft carrier of Malta, Rommel's supply convoy will sink to the bottom of the sea one after another."

"Without a constant supply of fuel and ammunition, no matter how brilliant Rommel's tactics were, his Panzer III and Panzer IV tanks would only become immobile scrap metal ovens in the desert; his elite infantry could only wait in despair for destruction in the endless yellow sand."

Churchill listened to Arthur's rational and calm analysis, stripped of all battlefield romanticism, and felt a huge weight lifted from his shoulders.

The passion for victory rekindled in his eyes.

"You're right, Arthur. Once we control North Africa, we will not only eliminate the threat to the Suez Canal, but also lay the most solid bridgehead for that imperial artery that runs through Asia and Africa. We will have endless strategic depth."

But Arthur's topic didn't end there. His gaze deepened, even carrying a hint of warning.

This is a time traveler's proactive precaution against drastic changes in the future world order.

"However, Your Excellency the Prime Minister, in the process of integrating North Africa and building this great artery, the Empire must exercise extremely firm control over the colonies along the way—from Egypt and the Middle East all the way to the Indian subcontinent. There can be no leniency whatsoever."

Arthur was well aware of the course of history after World War II.

The war greatly accelerated the awakening of nationalism. If the British Empire had shown weakness during the war, or had loosened its grip afterward, those formerly subjugated colonies would have inevitably sought independence, ultimately leading to the complete collapse of the British Empire.

"War is a double-edged sword. In order to exploit the manpower and resources of our colonies, we inevitably transfer some basic industrial technology and outdated weaponry to them. Once the natives of these colonies are armed and witness on the battlefield the reality that the mother country also sheds blood and is routed during retreat, their deep-seated awe of imperial rule will crack. The politicians of the Indian National Congress are now testing our limits with 'non-violent non-cooperation.'"

"Therefore, the Empire must never compromise or back down in any way. Regarding the infrastructure of the colonies, whether it be railway systems,..."

Whether it's the power grid or the port, everything must adopt the exclusive technical standards of Stirling Heavy Industries or local factories. We want them to be completely dependent on London for everything, from the most basic screw and a highly specialized rail to the diesel engine rotor of a train.

"In terms of military organization, colonial armies, such as those Indian divisions, could only be used as expendable infantry line-keeping forces. The allocation of all heavy armored vehicles, air squadrons, advanced communication and encryption equipment, and the most critical bottleneck technology for logistical spare parts, had to be firmly in the hands of British officers. The colonies were absolutely not allowed to establish any heavy industrial system that could operate independently."

"As long as the British Empire firmly controls the source of heavy industry and the core secrets of machinery operation, and as long as we demonstrate an iron will to ruthlessly suppress all rebellions, then after the war, no matter how much the ambitious people in those colonies incite, no matter how many people they gather, as long as London cuts off the supply of ammunition and precision parts, their armies will degenerate into a mob of firewood within two months. The rule of the Empire must be built on absolute technological monopoly and a ruthless mechanism of repression."

From the tonnage of warships to geopolitical maneuvering, from the North African desert to the cogs in the colonies, Arthur used an extremely meticulous and cold logic to build an unbreakable moat of hegemony for the British Empire.

As Churchill looked at the incredibly calm, surgeon-like young industrial oligarch who was dissecting the interests of great powers and scheming against the world, the corners of his mouth involuntarily turned up, and he finally let out a hearty, exhilarating laugh.

Arthur's grand vision of dominating postwar Europe with steel and pounds sterling wildly fueled his lust for power as Prime Minister of the Empire.

But after this brief period of excitement comes the cold reality.

"A brilliant blueprint worthy of being recorded in history, Arthur." Churchill tossed his cigar into the ashtray, his brow furrowed, pointing to the dead end before him. "But grand postwar strategies cannot shield our merchant ships from German torpedoes tomorrow."

We need those fifty US destroyers to fill the gaps in our escort network; this is an urgent survival necessity.

The Prime Minister, his hands gripping the table, pressed Arthur firmly: "Since you're certain we can't relinquish an inch of sovereignty over the Western Hemisphere, nor show any weakness at the negotiating table, then what do you intend to do? Are you going to rely on the thick fog of London to plead with that old fox in his wheelchair, Roosevelt, to take pity on us and willingly hand over those fifty warships for free?"

Faced with Churchill's questioning, Arthur showed no nervousness whatsoever; instead, a rather unkind smile crept onto his lips.

"A act of kindness? No, Your Excellency, capital and the state apparatus have never had that function." Arthur elegantly adjusted his suit cuffs, slowly uttering a phrase that would send shivers down the spines of traditional politicians: "Faced with Washington's opportunistic exploitation, we must utterly abandon all pretense of gentlemanly etiquette and the decorum of traditional diplomacy. We must wage a ruthless, unscrupulous diplomacy against the United States of America."

"Rogue diplomacy?" A hint of surprise flashed in Churchill's eyes, which was quickly replaced by intense interest.

"Yes, a shameless, thuggish tactic." Arthur braced his hands on the green velvet tablecloth, leaning slightly forward like a hunter setting a meat grinder trap. "We're no longer begging for warships like a dying man; we're going to turn the tables. We'll use extremely cruel deductions to shatter the Americans' false sense of security, making them fully understand the bloody reality that the British Empire isn't begging them at all, but is using the Royal Navy's warships and the flesh and blood of millions of British citizens as the last physical shield for their undefended east coast!"

"Starting tomorrow, the cabinet must stop sending any signals of despair and panic. We must demonstrate to the White House a composure based on absolute strength. We must make it clear to the Americans that we will not sell out core territorial sovereignty for a few scrap metal ships."

Arthur gave extremely specific instructions on negotiation strategy: "First, the sovereignty of any inch of British territory in the Western Hemisphere is absolutely inalienable. However, out of friendship between allies and sympathy for the defensive capabilities of the North American continent, we, the British Empire, can allow American troops to construct joint defense facilities at our bases in Newfoundland, Bermuda, and other locations at their own expense. Note the wording: this is not a lease; it is a privilege we are granting the Americans to provide forward guard services on our territory."

"Secondly, regarding those fifty destroyers. They are no longer the exchange for the base lease, but rather the first batch of supplies that the US government must pay to the British Empire to ensure its own national security. These fifty ships must be delivered to the Royal Navy immediately in Boston Harbor as free aid."

"Finally, and most importantly."

Arthur paused slightly, a hint of mockery in his eyes, and said.

"Of course, politicians in Washington have every right to reject this offer and continue to dream of their isolationist bills on Capitol Hill."

"But if they do choose that path, you must state to the envoy, very bluntly, that the British Empire will immediately reassess the sunk costs of this war. To avoid bleeding an entire generation of young people in the trenches as in the last World War, we could follow the example of the Gauls and sign a respectable armistice with the Führer in Berlin."

Arthur looked at Churchill with a playful gaze: "After all, we are not like the defeated French. The main force of the British Empire is still intact, we have the largest Royal Navy on the planet, the elite fleet of France that we just annexed, and the heavy industrial base of our homeland that has not yet been destroyed by the war. With these absolute hard power bargaining chips, Little Mustache might be more than willing to offer London the most favorable peace terms."

"And in exchange for the ceasefire," Arthur coldly declared the dead end of isolationism, "we will not hesitate to push control of the entire Atlantic, and a fully integrated European war machine, right to the doorstep of the American East Coast. Let those Americans who refuse to pay their security bills face the European fleet themselves."

As Churchill listened to this geopolitical threat, which had no moral bottom line but was impeccable in terms of national interests, the corners of his mouth involuntarily turned up, and he finally let out a hearty laugh with great lung capacity.

This is the confidence he needs at the poker table.

The Prime Minister lit a new cigar, and in the swirling smoke, his old eyes, which were already bloodshot from the war damage reports, now looked even more fierce.

"Roosevelt's personal envoy, Harry Hopkins, is scheduled to arrive in London tomorrow afternoon by seaplane. His main task is to conduct an on-the-ground assessment of the British Empire's war potential and will to resist, in order to determine whether the United States should continue to invest in our 'doomed company.'"

Churchill extended a formal invitation to Arthur: "Tomorrow evening at my country house, Chequers House, I will host an informal private dinner for Envoy Hopkins."

I am inviting you, Arthur Sterling, as my Chief Senior Advisor for Industry and Strategy, to this dinner. I need your assistance at the negotiating table to utterly shatter the ridiculous arrogance and complacency of the Americans.

"As you wish, Your Excellency Prime Minister."

Arthur bowed slightly, performing an impeccable English aristocratic gesture. His fingers gently traced the metal surface of the silver-tipped cane, feeling its cold, hard texture.

"As for the aircraft carrier construction plan you just proposed," Churchill added as Arthur turned to leave, "go back and have the engineers at Stirling Heavy Industries prepare the most detailed budget and steel consumption report. Once we've secured the Americans' supplies and filled the national treasury, I will immediately convene a cabinet meeting. We will force through a new, massive shipbuilding plan in Parliament next month."

6

"The maritime supremacy forged by the British Empire with centuries of blood and steel will not allow any nation to lay a finger on it!" Churchill's eyes burned with extreme arrogance and ruthlessness. "Whether it's the Germans across the Channel, those ignorant Asian monkeys coveting our colonies, or those cousins ​​across the ocean hiding behind their treasuries, plotting to steal the scepter of world power! As long as the Royal Navy's battle lines patrol the oceans, the rules of the seas on this planet can only be written by London!"