"I'm thinking of a suitable reason." Slim smiled bitterly, "Well, I'll make a combat plan to support it."
"That's the best." Pamela Mountbatten expressed her gratitude. She explained the benefits of the partition of New Guinea from the military field. It can be said to be a heavy weight of evidence, especially if the British Marshal personally did it, it will definitely be able to
Convince the Australian government.
The formulation of military plans does not necessarily have to be implemented. War is always the last option. The military advantage of separating New Guinea's island, New Britain, is that one day New Guinea can be checked and balanced after independence.
The current Governor-General of Australia is a genuine British field marshal. Slim's military journey has been full of twists and turns. He had conflicts with almost all his superiors, except Mountbatten, the commander of the Allied Forces in Southeast Asia.
With such a relationship, Marshal Slim, who is about to step down as Governor-General of Australia, has no reason to refuse Pamela Mountbatten's request this time.
Because of World War II, the British Empire has become a thing of the past, but its current remaining strength is still a behemoth for Australia. At least part of Australia's security still depends on Britain, especially considering the importance of the existence of the Malayan colony.
During World War II, New Britain Island was an important base for the Japanese troops going south and an important springboard for threatening Australia's security. As a result, a war broke out. The battle for New Britain Island lasted for two years until Japan formally surrendered.
Australians must still have fresh memories of the battle at that time. This plan explains the benefits of dividing New Guinea and New Britain from a military perspective.
Pamela Mountbatten did other things. She played an indispensable role in Australians' insecurity about Asia. She frequently mentioned the history of the Japanese army going south and it was almost a required course every year.
Gatherings to commemorate the outbreak of war and important battles cost the Mountbatten Group a lot of public relations funds.
However, these public relations expenses were worth it. Pamela Mountbatten easily summoned a group of MPs and opened the revolving door for these MPs.
It’s not just Australians who can open the revolving door to Australian parliamentarians, the UK can do it as well. Pamela Mountbatten didn’t know that in the 21st century, there is an example of the Australian Prime Minister going to the UK to work as a senior civil servant after he stepped down, but the revolving door has already opened.
The destination is different but the reason is the same.
Holding up her hands waving pounds, Pamela Mountbatten conquered these MPs with her wealth and was willing to provide support for this. "The heavy aircraft carrier has been completed, and the second ship belonging to Australia is also under construction in an orderly manner. If
If everything goes well, the gentlemen will be able to meet it soon."
"The quality of British construction is unquestionable." Six or seven Australian MPs immediately rushed to express their goodwill.
"The same goes for strategic vision." Pamela Mountbatten said with a gentle smile that she didn't praise her enough.
At the Cabinet Office meeting, Alan Wilson, who was losing weight because his wife left London, was listening to the Ministry of Defense's fighter procurement plans and requirements. Since the US F-104 fighter jets were officially put into service last year, the Ministry of Defense was discussing whether to compare them with the F-104 fighter jets.
performance data and make requirements for suppliers.
F-104 fighter jet? This type of fighter jet cheered up Alan Wilson. He was actually not very familiar with various fighter jets in the early Cold War, especially the first and second generation fighter jets. But this one is exactly the one
exception,
Who doesn’t know the name of the aerial coffin? The crash rates of F-104 fighter jets are: 32% for the Federal Republic of Germany, 31% for the Netherlands, 37% for Belgium, and 37% for Italy.
, 45% in Canada, 15% in Japan, and undisclosed in the United States.
Not to mention this typical failure, even the Phantom fighter, the leader of the second generation fighter jets, is not very advanced.
The design of the Phantom is based on the expectation that future air combat will be a duel between long-range missiles, with both warring parties unable to see each other. Therefore, why do fighter jets need air-to-air artillery and air combat capabilities?
Unfortunately, technical limitations of early missiles such as the Sparrow radar-guided missile and restrictive rules of engagement meant that the Phantom had to engage in close-quarters combat with smaller, lighter MiG fighters.
The entire second-generation fighter jets had various designs and arrangements due to advanced concepts, resulting in this generation of fighter jets having strange shapes. However, in actual combat, it was found that they could not meet the requirements of actual combat because the combat methods were different from what was previously expected.
A lot has changed.
High altitude and high speed are not the main scope of air combat, so the performance advantages of second-generation aircraft are not the decisive factor in determining the victory of air combat.
"Frank, the development of new fighter jets must have put a lot of pressure on the Ministry of Finance, right?" Alan Wilson, who had returned to his senses, suddenly said. He had just been wandering in the world, and without a specific idea, he kicked the ball to the side of the Ministry of Finance.
"Oh, Alan, of course." Frank smiled, not knowing what Alan Wilson meant.
"After all, it's not easy to spit out money from the Treasury." As soon as Alan Wilson said this, colleagues in Whitehall laughed out loud, and the heated discussion just now turned into a relaxed one.
"This will all be taxpayers' money." Frank coughed softly, adhering to his duty as a humble social public instrument.
"There is such a saying, but I believe the Ministry of Finance does not think so." Alan Wilson frowned and said, "We all know that the application of new technologies costs money, and it costs a lot of money. The current situation
It’s unclear. We may face a new minister this year, so it’s too early to talk now. Of course, we are not turning a blind eye to new technological innovations, but we just need to make more prudent considerations. Money must be spent on important places, right?”
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Alan Wilson, who had not thought of how to use this flying coffin for the time being, found a way to postpone the matter and wait until his thoughts became clear before proceeding with the operation.
There is no problem at all in thinking this way. Although he is not the permanent undersecretary of the Ministry of Defense, the chief of staff of the British armed forces is Field Marshal Mountbatten. If he wants to understand, he can discuss it with his father-in-law.
After the meeting, Alan Wilson greeted Frank and said that he did not mean to cause trouble for the Treasury Department. Frank agreed with this explanation, because the real permanent secretary of the Treasury Department is also held by the Cabinet Secretary.
Without letting Frank misunderstand, Alan Wilson considered analyzing the value of the flying coffin, and even the entire second-generation fighter jet, and what countermeasures should be taken to maximize the benefits for Britain.
This is not easy, because the gains from various attitudes are different, but it is almost impossible to gain them all.
For example, it would be easy for the UK to refuse flying coffins, but it would therefore develop its own second-generation fighter jets. The second-generation fighter jets are a failed generation as a whole, and they are just moving from one failure to another.
Looking at the United States on the other side of the ocean, Alan Wilson not only does not want the number of second-generation fighter jets to decrease, but also hopes that the more the better. 10,000 fighter jets are too few to seize the day, which will cause trouble when it comes to upgrading.
Can we skip the second-generation fighter jets? There must be sufficient reasons. Who will fill the vacant positions? The UK is second to none in the engine field. It seems that this is not a big problem, but it can keep up in other aspects.
Up?
"Use large transport aircraft and carrier-based aircraft to squeeze the Air Force's military expenditure? Sell a loophole to the United States?" Alan Wilson rubbed his chin and thought hard in the office of the Permanent Under Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It must be said that he thought of the old path of military service struggle.
This is of course harmful to a country. Isn’t that why the U.S.’s intercontinental missile program is lagging behind?
But I have to admit that if you want to squeeze the funds for second-generation fighter jets, this trick is not impossible to use when you have no choice.
Once Britain's share of second-generation fighter jets is squeezed, the alternative condition is to purchase American fighter jets. However, this is a diplomatic matter, and Alan Wilson, as the permanent undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has a hundred reasons why this deal cannot be negotiated.
From the perspective of the United States, Britain's lack of second-generation fighter jets is undoubtedly a big flaw. The United States can use this to blackmail Britain into making concessions on some issues of interest.
But only Alan Wilson himself knows that this is not a flaw of Britain, but of the United States. If the United States uses this to blackmail Britain, the future will be quite wonderful.
The idea was wonderful, but Alan Wilson was not yet sure he could do it. While he was thinking hard, in Canberra, the capital of Australia, Australian Prime Minister Robert Gordon Menzies was holding the Governor-General Marshal Slim's draft plan.
"Governor Slim's military plan is indeed quite reasonable."
"As the ruling party, we need to think more long-term. Today, New Guinea is managed by Australia, but what if one day it has to become independent and become an enemy of Australia? We must learn from the United Kingdom and leave a certain amount of weight in our hands.
Code to prevent this from happening in the future.”
Hearing what the Prime Minister said, the ministers of the Menzies government, who had already opened the revolving door by Pamela Mountbatten, immediately expressed their agreement, "We have always admired London's keenness on strategic issues and its long-term vision of being prepared for danger in times of peace, which is worth learning from.
"
The island of New Britain was separated from New Guinea and served as a forward base for the British to protect the security of Australia. The passage of this resolution was already a certainty.
An enthusiastic telegram arrived in London from Canberra. Alan Wilson, who was holding his wife's telegram, listened to the report of Secretary Wick, the Permanent Secretary, and nodded, "Let Eder, the East Malaysia Commissioner of the Malayan Colony, come back."
Come on, I want to talk to him about the appointment of the High Commissioner of the British Oceania Territory."
"Excuse me, Sir Norman, do you have time?" Alan Wilson picked up the phone and asked, "I want to hear Sir Norman's opinion on personnel arrangements in the Oceania Territory. Okay, I'll be there right away."