Conquer Europe from the West

Chapter 92 Churchill's Anger

On the evening of August 25th.

Just when Lieutenant Brinkman successfully obtained a document from Lieutenant General Draven issued by the Imperial Army General Staff allowing the troops to carry out test operations completely independently and autonomously.

Lundern, the capital of the United Kingdom, across the English Channel.

The dark clouds that had been hanging over the capital of the United Kingdom since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution continued to float there, blocking out most of the sunlight from the universe.

All that was left for all the residents of Lunden was a world filled with light gray and sunlight so dim that even a girl's lipstick couldn't shine through.

The drizzle made the streets of Londen full of puddles. Winston Churchill walked in a hurry, using his hands and big belly to separate the pedestrians in front of him who were holding umbrellas and wearing raincoats. He walked into the Palace of Westminster without saying a word under the watchful eyes of a group of Metropolitan Police officers dressed like zebras.

The lights in the parliament hall seemed to have been dimmed intentionally, and the bulbs would even flicker occasionally, making unpleasant sounds.

As soon as the guards opened the door for him, the hundreds of people inside almost immediately turned their eyes to the very young congressman.

Churchill took off his hat and walked into his seat, explaining: "I'm sorry I'm late. The report to His Majesty the King took quite a while."

Churchill, who was 40 years old this year, was one of the youngest members of the House of Commons and was also a famous war hero of the United Kingdom.

He had been promoted to the Kingdom's Lord Admiral a few months earlier and had taken over the Chancellor's job when Chancellor Asquith had to leave due to injury.

Today is his third month as prime minister, and also the most painful month since he became the prime minister of the kingdom.

But his job couldn't tolerate him making such a mistake at this time.

Many members of parliament had poker faces, and their tightly furrowed brows made them look extremely nervous.

They had little to do with the late Churchill, even though he was probably the most senior of all present.

At this moment, they all turned their attention to the center of the parliament - a member of parliament whose speech was interrupted.

"According to the report sent by the Minister of War..."

The councillor's tone was grave and intimidating. "Two of our divisions are trapped by the Imperial Army on the border between Farlan and Perije. They need to face the threat of the Empire's Second and Fifth Armies, but we have not yet reached an agreement with Farlan on going to war."

Churchill sat in the front row, looking at the MP through the dim light, his heart sinking to the bottom.

He had just had a huge argument with King George V over this matter.

The old King George V believed that the Empire's actions were nothing more than a counterattack and retaliation against Farlan's invasion of himself. Perijie could have chosen to give up resistance in areas such as Liège in exchange for his own safety.

But now, the Kingdom of Perijie, an old colony and vassal of the kingdom, has chosen the least favored and most unsafe method - war.

Their territory was not even as big as a province of the empire, and their population was less than one-tenth of the empire's. The result of their stubborn resistance was obvious: defeat.

The war also affected the troops of the United Kingdom. As the sovereign state, the United Kingdom has always deployed several standing legions in the Kingdom of Perijie, which are responsible for openly assisting the Kingdom of Perijie's national defense.

However, now these legions of theirs are caught in a war with the empire because of the absurd choice made by King Abel I of the Kingdom of Perige.

What's even more terrible is that because of the defeat of the Kingdom of Perije, these legions have been driven by the Empire to the border between the Republic of Farlan and the Kingdom of Perije, and are unable to move.

What the House of Commons is discussing today is the affairs of these troops.

"Conservatives are considering whether to send a large number of troops to assist the Kingdom of Perijie, but their numbers are small and they have not yet become the mainstream."

A member of parliament sitting next to Churchill tilted his head and said in a voice that only Churchill could hear: "Because most people don't dare to do this, even the right-wing radicals are wondering whether this is too radical."

Churchill raised his eyebrows, raised his hand and used his fingertips to push up his glasses, which had slipped down a little. He squinted his eyes and looked at the newcomer out of the corner of his eye, muttering to himself, "What do the army say? I mean, where is Earl Kitchener?"

Earl Kitchener is the current Kingdom's Secretary of State for War, holding the rank of Field Marshal. He has been in office since the beginning of the year and is known for his radicalism and cruelty. He is an out-and-out executioner and butcher.

"The Earl is currently considering this matter, but he is in the House of Lords, so he hasn't made a decision yet."

"He should know the consequences of declaring war, right?"

Churchill swallowed and wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief. The previous running, coupled with the smell of cigarettes in the air, made him feel a little uncomfortable when he spoke, and his already thick tongue sounded even more muddy. "If war is declared, we will have to abide by the alliance treaty signed with Farland, but this is not a war for the protection of the country. The people will not support us."

The implication is that if the empire is the one starting the war, then the United Kingdom will have no worries about going to war, because they are just and are only trying to protect their allies.

But now, the United Kingdom's allies are the aggressors, so the war it launches will be seen as a dishonorable act, and even more disastrous if it fails.

Citizens will not be willing to spend their tax money on such things, not to mention that they just experienced a terrible financial crisis three years ago.

The United Kingdom had not yet recovered from the Great Depression, and they needed more time to prepare, at least another five years.

"Yes, the Count knows it well."

The man nodded. Unlike other people's Möbius beards or other carefully trimmed beards, the little moustache under his nose made him look a little less energetic.

He cast his gaze towards the group of people on the opposite side and said to Churchill: "But now there is another explanation."

"You're not going to say that, are you?"

Churchill's heart tightened.

As the kingdom's Secretary of the Navy, his status and position is actually far higher than that of the Secretary of War, Earl Kitchener.

This is because the United Kingdom is a huge colonial power with a small land area but a colonial area that is more than twice the total area of ​​all other countries in the world.

In order to ensure their dominance over their colonies, they naturally, naturally and rightfully possess the largest maritime power in the world.

Therefore, in Churchill's view, there was actually no need for the United Kingdom to go to war with the empire at the moment.

The reason is that the empire is currently fighting a war against aggression, which means that the empire will most likely not pursue the plunder of all the colonies of Unfair or even the national resources.

Judging from the history between the Empire and Farlan, they are more likely to ask Farlan to disband most of its military forces and use this to occupy the land in southern Farlan as war compensation.

This was the strategy used by their Iron Chancellor Bismarck decades ago.

For the current empire, this strategy is still effective and has considerable support because its implementation will not arouse anti-imperial sentiment in other countries.

Therefore, as long as the Empire does not excessively pursue the development of its maritime power, the Empire's threat to the United Kingdom will be empty talk.

Furthermore, Churchill was still young, not even forty years old, so he was more inclined to a conservative approach.

However, overly radical choices will cause dissatisfaction, and overly conservative views will also cause resistance from some people.

This was the origin of the dispute with George V.

George V insisted that the kingdom should choose to go to war, which was not only to protect the kingdom's position on the European continent, but also to ensure the validity of the treaties signed by the kingdom.

This also made Churchill hate the so-called Allied Treaty.

The so-called "that statement" was developed on the basis of the Allied Treaty.

This alliance treaty nominally guaranteed that the Kingdom, Farland, and the Empire would receive protection from the other two countries when they attacked each other.

Initially, the treaty's purpose was to contain the Empire's growing power on the continent. However, after the Empire defeated Farlan twice in succession and achieved unification, the treaty became a treaty that the three nations of Farlan and the Empire used to protect themselves from the Empire's aggression...

Similarly, Churchill could actually understand George V's thoughts.

As someone who also came from the navy, George V was very clear that the Empire would not actually take action against the United Kingdom. This was clear from the moment they first made a declaration to the Kingdom of Perigueux.

The fundamental reason why he insisted on supporting Farlan in accordance with the alliance treaty was to curb the empire's sphere of influence on the continent.

His philosophy is the same as that of the British troublemakers in Europe.

To put it simply, the United Kingdom's intention is to use all means to strangle in the cradle all enemies that may threaten itself.

If you are weak, I will keep you weak.

If you are not weak, then I will break you down from within and make you weaker.

If you are strong, I will try to put you in a state of foreign war, and then use my rich experience in stirring up trouble to make you weaker.

What's even more terrible is that the methods these bastards use when stirring up trouble are so despicable that most of the areas they have intervened in have become absolute security vacuums.

Public security in those areas does not exist; it only exists in the constitution.

George V's idea was based on this.

He believed that since the Empire had now taken the initiative to step into the quagmire of war, the United Kingdom would immediately rush to crush the Empire into this quagmire before it could escape.

As for the fact that Farlan was an invader...

As long as you win, then no matter what you say afterwards, you are still the winner, right?
At the same time, the United Kingdom could exploit Farlan's aggression by, for example, forcing Farlan to borrow money from the United Kingdom, which would then cover all costs incurred by the United Kingdom's troops protecting Farlan. As for the Empire, the United Kingdom could also use the compensation it would receive from defeating the Empire to win over the Empire and force it to participate in this battle.

To put it bluntly, it is just to use the stick that was used to stir up shit in the colonies to stir up shit on the European continent.

The only difference is that this time he wants to involve himself as well.

"That's the one."

A helpless voice rang out from the man's mouth: "The gentlemen I know in the House of Lords all think this method is perfect. And given the Empire's current combat status, they definitely have no chance of defeating us."

Churchill shook his head repeatedly: "It's too risky. If it fails, everything will be over."

"But this is the only method we have at the moment."

The man's words obviously exceeded Churchill's expectations, which made Churchill very unhappy: "Don't tell me you support this view."

"I disagree, but in the eyes of others, it seems that this matter will soon be out of your control."

The man sighed deeply, his voice weak. "Earl Kitchener has already sent a request to the navy for the cruiser, and His Majesty the King seems ready to approve it."

"He's going to go over my head and lend Kitchener a navy cruiser?"

Churchill, who had been able to hold back his voice before, almost immediately went berserk. His unique, unclear, and thick-tongued voice completely drowned out the voice of the members of the House of Commons who were speaking, and he immediately became the focus of everyone's attention!
"How dare that son of a bitch Kitchener steal a cruiser from me!!"

"Calm down, Winston!" The man grabbed Churchill and begged him to sit down: "This is not the right place, at least go to the cabinet!"

"Why is it inappropriate?"

Churchill violently shook off the other person's hand, pushed aside the fence in front of him, stood in the center of the House of Commons, and looked up at the Conservatives: "Most of you haven't even paid off the debts you took on during the last financial crisis, and now you're ready to take the entire country with you to go to war with the most powerful empire in history?"

"Alright, no problem, go ahead and fight! Wade across the English Channel with your stinking feet, then crawl onto the land of Farland to fight for your unpaid loans!"

"And then? You won, but where will the money for the war come from? Will you borrow from the United States again, just like you did three years ago?"

"Oh, I know, someone will definitely say it at this time."

"The United States won't just watch us lose. They'll lend it to the Farlans, the Empire, and even Thalia in the Apennines!"

"As long as we show signs of losing, the United States will definitely rush in and help us defeat the Empire!"

"That's great, but have you ever thought about what this means? This means there are five countries that want to suck blood from the Empire. Is the Empire's blood enough for you? You will only drag yourselves into that damn hell!"

He cursed so much that he almost had an asthma attack and his tongue was tied.

However, the reaction on the scene broke his heart.

"Go to hell!"

A Conservative representative faced Churchill, put the back of his hand toward him, raised his index and middle fingers, and made a "Ya" gesture.

"You have no right to speak here, Winston!"

"Don't think we don't know what the king said to you before!"

……

Various voices emerged at the same time, almost all of which were attacks on Churchill.

Churchill said nothing.

He guessed that these people had probably already reached a consensus in private.

He also guessed that King George V was probably determined to develop the empire only after gaining the support of so many people.

The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy, a special system that retains the monarch as the nominal ruler even after the establishment of the constitution.

The monarch's actions are largely due not to himself but to Parliament.

Standing in the middle of the field, facing countless boos, Winston Churchill remained silent.

he thinks.

I should have guessed.

But it's too late to say anything now.

As the acting prime minister of the kingdom, he is also the kingdom's naval minister.

Churchill always believed that the kingdom should step up the development of its economic strength so that the country could completely recover from the impact of the financial crisis a few years ago.

But it seems that those who have become accustomed to colonial expansion and those who have profited from colonial wars have forgotten that expansion will fail.

And the loser often does not have a good ending.

The king of the Kingdom of Perije was very smart. Although he was defeated, he still held on because the empire only took the southern part of Perije and did not attack the northern part.

So Perijie is definitely safe.

But these idiots don't understand.

They wanted to equate the attack on Perij with the kingdom's hegemony, using an outright war to divert the debts they incurred during the financial crisis.

There was no point trying to convince them.

That's it.

Churchill looked at these fools who were eager to die.

He realized that he could no longer stop them.

"In that case, let you try it."

Those few words were like a heavy hammer, instantly silencing everyone.

In the meeting hall, Churchill looked at those who supported the war, those who did not support the war, and those who had not taken sides and were still hesitating.

he said.

"But we can't declare war on the Empire!"

"Fallan is an invader. Assisting Fallan will lead to hostility among the people. They have only just recovered from the previous crisis and don't have the energy to support the kingdom in launching a major war!"

Churchill walked up to the podium, drove away the previous speaker, and stood in the center.

He leaned his hands on the fence in front of him and spoke slowly and powerfully.

"We need to form multiple units in a volunteer-based army."

"They will land on the coast of Farlane and Perije respectively."

"The troops stationed in Farlan are tasked with receiving the remnants of the Perije Army that were driven out of Perije by the Imperial Army and transporting them back to the port of Perije by sea."

"The troops landing in Perijie will be responsible for preparing to win over the Empire to join the battle!"

Before he finished speaking, a question came up.

"How are you going to get the Empire to join!?"

Churchill looked in the direction of the sound, but found no one.

But that's not the problem.

He has already thought of a solution.

"We want to publicize the actions of the volunteer forces."

"I want the Empire and the Imperial State to think we sent out 10,000, 30,000, 50,000, or even 100,000 men!"

"The goal is to force the Empire to slow down its offensive against Farlan and instead begin attacking the coastal areas of Perije, which they didn't want to attack."

"If we succeed, then we'll have a valid reason to intervene in this damn war."

(End of this chapter)