"Oh, young Alan, what's wrong?" Edward Bridges was a little surprised by Alan Wilson suddenly appearing in front of him. He had not encountered such a thing for a long time, "It's the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Things? Relax, you know, when it comes to foreign affairs, your job is limited to public relations and hospitality. There is nothing difficult about it. Maybe Barron hasn't taught you this yet."
Edward Bridges showed an attitude of having everything under control, spoke calmly, and did not behave rudely to Alan Wilson or lose his gentlemanly demeanor.
"Sir Edward, something happened?" Alan Wilson said with an anxious look, "Something happened that none of us wanted to happen, but it happened. Subjectively, we should try our best to prevent it, but in fact
We are helpless. We should express our attitude, but it is best to pretend not to know. We should play the role of the British Empire, but it is best to let it go. This is very embarrassing."
"Wow, I just said that Barron is good at discovering talents." Pointing to the chair in front of him and gesturing for Alan Wilson to sit down, Edward Bridges, who was holding afternoon tea in his hand, asked calmly, "What happened?
matter?"
Alan Wilson immediately reported on the Yugoslav refugees crossing the border to the north, waiting for instructions from Edward Bridges. Edward Bridges held the hand holding the afternoon tea without moving, and gave Alan Wilson a sideways look.
, said without leaving a trace, "This is a big event, especially at such a moment, when the Potsdam Conference is about to be held, and now there are elections in the country. If the Potsdam Conference cannot be held, the great Prime Minister may be very unhappy.
.”
"Yes, Sir Edward, we don't want to have any setbacks at this time." Alan Wilson's panic was not entirely fake. Deep down, he was also afraid of what happened to his classmates.
Although the chance is small, nothing is 100%, and you have to bear the consequences of doing things.
"It's rare that you can see the seriousness of the matter. I remember that you have been to Vienna specifically?" Seeing Alan Wilson's color change suddenly, Edward Bridges stretched out his hand to signal for peace of mind, "We are here at any time.
We must avoid being anxious and speaking with emotional agitation. That is what politicians do. As a successful civil servant, we must maintain a calm and calm attitude at all times, but it does not mean that your matter is not serious."
Edward Bridges paused and continued, "Strictly speaking, these refugees crossing the border are an emergency. We don't want to have consequences that may cause the Potsdam Conference to be canceled at such an important moment. If this happens,
As a result, if the Soviets find out what the problem is, maybe even if this matter has nothing to do with you, you, as a party involved, may be inevitably affected, and now it becomes an issue of malfeasance."
"Sir Edward, I am very unjust." Alan Wilson defended somewhat eloquently...
"It's just a hypothesis, without any prejudice." Edward Bridges shook his finger and said indifferently, "So the current consequences depend on whether it affects the convening of the Potsdam Conference and the purpose of these refugees.
No matter where the ground goes, if they happen not to affect the order of the British-occupied area, you will be safe."
At the dawn of peace, something like this happened that could damage the current unity of the Allies. Of course, Alan Wilson could not guarantee that he would escape unscathed. In fact, even an ordinary cabinet secretary would be confused by this incident.
But Edward Bridges was the exception. He was the cabinet secretary who experienced the entire war period, from Prime Minister Chamberlain's response mistakes to Prime Minister Churchill who fought like a bullfighter against Germany. During the war, he performed various operations, including
All major mistakes were noticed by him.
Although this Yugoslav refugee crossing incident is not a trivial matter, it is not very big either. And we have not yet seen the consequences. Since the consequences have not appeared yet, it is still too early to deal with Alan Wilson.
After Alan Wilson left, Edward Bridges closed his eyes and muttered to himself, "Barron, you can really cause me problems!"
The Barron mentioned by Edward Bridges is naturally Sir Barron, the chief civil servant in British India. Considering the important position of British India to the British Empire, he, as the cabinet secretary, must of course have a reliable person in British India.
subordinates.
Normally, Sir Barron, and of course Edward Bridges, would carry some souvenirs from British India.
However, when there was a wave of refugees from Yugoslavia, how could US Commander-in-Chief Eisenhower be frightened to death by the new Soviet tanks and attract attention? The Daily Mail and The Times reported with sensational headlines that during the joint military parade, the Soviet Union
The emergence of new heavy tanks.
Some public opinion is actually very keen on the fact that the United States and the Soviet Union are currently entering into a fierce confrontation.
Like army ants, the Yugoslav refugees quickly crossed through small Austria and appeared on the border between Germany and Austria. By night, the news of the Yugoslav refugees crossing the border had completely spread.
The top leaders of the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain and France were all aware of it, and General Eisenhower finally learned the destination of these refugees, Bavaria, Germany, where General Patton was located.
"Just let them come!" General Patton issued the order aggressively. He didn't know yet about the new Soviet tanks that appeared at the Berlin military parade during the day.
I don’t know the reason, maybe Eisenhower wanted to determine the movement of these refugees, whether to stay in Austria or something else. If they stayed in Austria, it would be a British problem, because the US-occupied area was to the north of the British-occupied area.
Eisenhower did not contact Bavarian Chief Executive Patton immediately because he was trying to make up for his gaffe during the day and repair his image. He also believed that the British-occupied area facing these refugees would handle it. He was making a fuss out of a molehill.
General Eisenhower, who had this idea, knew that these people were just refugees without weapons, including women and children, and felt that the British in the British-occupied areas could easily handle this problem.
This is the disadvantage of the coalition army, so the coalition forces will often have disastrous consequences because the friendly forces are surrounded and unable to move.
The most important thing is that Eisenhower never dreamed that General Patton would actually order to take in these refugees. By the time he knew about it, it was already too late to send a telegram to stop it.
On the southern border of Germany, countless unarmed refugees crossed the border. The American soldiers who had learned about the situation looked at each other, and no one knew whether they were going to shoot at these teams full of women and children.
General Patton's order freed these tangled soldiers and opened the way for these refugees to enter Germany.