The British Army currently has more than 800 Chieftain tanks, which have been equipped with Chobham reactive armor. They can give the Iraqi Army a batch of Challenger tanks, which can also optimize the British Army's own equipment, but for a war
To put it bluntly, even the hundreds of tanks that come out are still not enough.
Army quantity is no less important than quality, especially when the enemy is not weak. The production line of the Chieftain tank has been replaced by Challenger, and the United Kingdom will not reopen it for Iraq. Therefore, in terms of quantity, Iraq
Another seller is needed. Alan Wilson is not hiding it. A country cannot have a think tank. It is better for him to sell it directly, saying that a big country can solve this problem and its production capacity is enough for the Iraqi Army to complete the filling.
Faisal II couldn't help but be in awe, and had a new understanding of the British Cabinet Secretary-General in front of him. Alan Wilson usually played the sincerity card in his foreign exchanges. Since he was helping, he would consider all aspects. This time he passed by London.
Faisal II received this kind of treatment.
"Purchases to the United Kingdom are settled in U.S. dollars, and arms sales to the East are settled in pounds." Alan Wilson made another suggestion. As a pro-British monarchy, the Kingdom of Iraq does not impose a mandatory requirement that oil exports be settled in U.S. dollars. Eggs
Not put in a basket.
The current foreign exchange reserves of the Kingdom of Iraq are divided into two parts, which are roughly equal in numbers. This is also the common approach of many countries, except for Canada and American countries.
Of course Britain also needs dollars, but Alan Wilson thinks that a certain big country should need pounds. There is no reason. That's what he thinks.
Obtaining the pound will definitely only allow investment and trade in places where the UK still has influence, which is the Middle East, East Africa and Commonwealth countries including Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
Through the import of pounds to a large country, the development of the pound group countries can also be promoted by its production scale, so he suggested this to Faisal II.
The United Kingdom has its own uses for receiving U.S. dollars, and a certain major country has its own uses for receiving British pounds. Each has its own uses and does not interfere with the other.
After talking about the arms purchase, it was time to prepare for the war. Alan Wilson recommended a list of war supplies that should be stocked this year. A total of three pages were handed over to Faisal II.
Then there is the navy’s combat plan and blockade action plan to curb Iran’s war potential, which is stronger than Iraq. As mentioned before, to cut off foreign aid at sea, the UK can certainly help. Anyway, the relationship with Iran is already like this, but the UK
Blocking other countries' overseas transportation is itself an act of war. If the UK wants to do this, what is the difference between it and participating in a war?
Since he was not participating in the war, Iraq had to do this work on its own, so he decided to sell the Eagle-class warship, Britain's only heavy aircraft carrier during World War II, to the Kingdom of Iraq.
The Kingdom of Iraq Navy has experience in using aircraft carriers. It is a blue-water navy in the Middle East and is stationed in the Sultanate of Zanzibar like the Egyptian Navy. There is no problem with its use experience.
All these war preparations have suddenly reduced Faisal II's ambitions a lot. Every aspect of Alan Wilson's suggestions represents an investment. Although the United States has expressed its full support, there are still some
Regarding the supply of materials, these are very general terms.
It's not like the London side listed them one by one, telling him what kind of costs it would cost to fight the war. But fortunately, spending money was not all. Finally, we moved on to the next item: how to morally kidnap the Arab world.
"The shock in the Arab world originated from the deposing of King Pahlavi. The Kingdom of Egypt adopted Pahlavi based on this mentality. Most countries in the Arab world are still monarchies. Since His Majesty the King is ready to raise his arms, then
We must really grasp the psychology of the monarchs of various countries, use the method of moral kidnapping, and call on the Arab brothers who have money and strength to contribute. Well, you can do this, but your Majesty, please don’t say that this is what I suggested.”
Alan Wilson coughed softly twice to ease the tense atmosphere, making Faisal II couldn't help laughing before continuing, "Since all Arab monarchies are threatened by the export of the Iranian revolution, Iraq should base its military expenditures on
Therefore, let the Arab brother countries share part of the costs."
Faisal II couldn't help but nod. When he was about to say something, Alan Wilson added, "This issue must be discussed before the war breaks out. It is money, not a blank piece of paper. It is just a verbal agreement.
Count, what if someone regrets it later? So we have to negotiate beforehand, especially countries like Saudi Arabia, which should be treated in this way."
"Especially Saudi Arabia is a pro-American country, right? Sir." Faisal II replied with a smile, "Unlike other countries of ours, Saudi Arabia is completely pro-American in the Arab world. Similar to the original Iran, the United Kingdom is also
Hope to see Saudi Arabia release some of its ill-gotten gains."
"I have always believed that Iraq is far more suitable to become the leader of the Arab world than Saudi Arabia."
Alan Wilson responded ambiguously, "There are internal and external problems. Iran is the external problem, but it does not mean that Saudi Arabia is not the internal problem. You can't attack one and let the other take advantage."
Since the oil crisis, Saudi Arabia has relied on the world's largest oil production and has become more and more prosperous from its original small and transparent status. In today's Arab world, it is no longer the country that it used to be. As long as you say something, no one will listen.
.
If you can't fight, you still can't fight, but the wealth accumulated through the oil crisis has given Saudi Arabia the right to speak. Not to mention that it is one of the three giants in the Arab world with Egypt and Iraq. It still treats them as equals with traditional military powers like Syria and Yemen. As long as Saudi Arabia
If the army is slightly stronger, it will have a greater say.
The bad thing is that it made little contribution to the Middle East war against Israel. Although it initiated the oil crisis, it was somewhat less confident than the several Arab countries fighting on the battlefield.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Supervisory Minister Alan Wilson has informed Faisal II of the possible problems encountered in this war, as well as the planned responses.
It is up to the king to make the decision whether he still wants to fight or not.
Honesty is the quality of supreme authority. He would not hide the conversation between Mrs. Thatcher and Faisal II, but he still shocked the female prime minister, "You actually proposed the sale of heavy aircraft carriers?"
"What's the point? It is said that those who imitate me will live like me and die like me. The navy has its own characteristics. Countries that use British warships will never defeat us. The Prime Minister almost covers housing, education, energy, employment, transportation, foreign aid and
Expenditure on all aspects of industry has only been reduced by four billion pounds a year. If the war breaks out, as long as Iraq can increase the financial balance of the British department for more than two years, we can use this money to do a lot of things, lay off workers and re-employ them.
Planning, and even the internal optimization of the British Army, requires this money."
Alan Wilson did not mention the sale of one million apartments because the total return of £2 billion was not as much as the former.
After all, the Eagle-class aircraft carrier was built during World War II. It can certainly be used today. It is a heavy weapon for 99% of the countries in the world, but it is very embarrassing for the United Kingdom.
If there is one difference between Mrs. Thatcher and previous prime ministers, it is that she has never had an idea about military spending. On the contrary, Alan Wilson has repeatedly opposed the government's move on military spending as the cabinet secretary. This time, he is planning to optimize the British military.
.
What Mrs. Thatcher wanted to say, Alan Wilson directly took out the minutes of the meetings that opposed the reduction of military spending in the past ten years. Mrs. Thatcher said with an expression that nothing was wrong, "Of course it would be good if there was a suitable price.
, but make sure it cannot become a threat to the UK."
"I don't want war to break out, but the decision-making power rests with King Faisal. We can only make preparations to guide it in a direction that is beneficial to Britain." Since the Prime Minister did not read it, Alan Wilson took the meeting minutes back and prepared to archive them.
Also stated that he is a pacifist.
Mrs. Thatcher ignored all this happening. She had her own affairs to be busy with. She declared that the United States could not solve Britain's own problems by following Britain's reforms, especially as the Conservative Party faced the pressure of public opinion that had not made any progress.
If opposition arises, he must first deal with the opposition within the party.
While the entire United Kingdom was admiring the grand occasion of the Crown Prince's wedding, the first cabinet meeting after Mrs. Thatcher's wedding faced siege from cabinet ministers.
Lord Chancellor Ian Gilmore picked up former Prime Minister Winston Churchill's famous saying: "No matter how tempting your strategy is, you must always pay attention to its consequences" to insinuations to Mrs. Thatcher and remind the government
The top priority is to formulate a good political strategy rather than an economic plan.
Defense Secretary Francis Pym believes that the army of unemployed is the trigger for social unrest, and the government should not only be concerned about curbing high inflation.
Agriculture Secretary Peter Volcker advocates returning to the old path: stop raising taxes and use expanded government investment to solve the employment problem.
Lord Justice Hailsham simply used the historical examples of the Führer taking advantage of Germany's high unemployment rate to usurp power and President Hoover's austerity policies in the United States that led to the decline of the Republican Party in the past thirty years.
Trade Secretary John Nott mocked the Treasury's plan as "at best the work of an imbecile". Even Home Secretary William Whitelaw, although a confidant of Mrs Thatcher, tried to please everyone at this cabinet meeting, playing the role of
The role of a wallflower.
Employment Secretary James Prior clashed head-on with Prime Minister Thatcher over trade union reform.
Alan Wilson also attended this meeting and directly blocked Frank's speech as the Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Finance. He spoke from Mrs. Thatcher's position and said, "It is imperative to carry out a cabinet reshuffle. The ruling party cannot
There should be such widespread disagreement that it affects the implementation of policy."
As soon as these words came out, the firepower of the cabinet ministers immediately focused on the cabinet secretary-general who spoke. When could Whitehall interfere in cabinet meetings?
Although the cabinet secretary-general was accused of the chaotic cabinet meeting, Mrs. Thatcher knew it was directed at herself and shouted angrily, "This cabinet meeting ends here."
In the empty conference room, only the Prime Minister and the Cabinet Secretary were left. After a while, Mrs. Thatcher said in a loyal but not absolute tone, "You are right, the Cabinet will be reorganized."
"That's what I say, but it's not the answer." Alan Wilson, who stood firmly behind the Prime Minister, comforted him, "I heard that Galtieri visited the United States and the talks were quite good."