The general election a month ago scared the Labor Party, which had been in power for nearly ten years, into a cold sweat, but it was finally over.
Attlee created a winning streak for the Labor Party against the Conservative Party. It was certainly a huge achievement for a party that was much younger than the Conservative Party. But no one expected that Attlee's first order was to let Mon
Patton became First Sea Lord.
In terms of status, it is natural for Mountbatten to become the First Sea Lord. Attlee is also willing to fulfill Mountbatten's dream, but at the same time he is also helpless with the stubbornness of the old-school generals in the Navy and wants to find someone to suppress the Navy.
General Mountbatten is the most suitable.
Attlee is actually ten years younger than Churchill, and is already seventy-one years old this year. Currently, Britain is facing future problems. In fact, the Labor Party cannot be called peaceful. The early grievances between Prime Minister Attlee and Foreign Secretary Morrison.
It is almost an open secret in the Labor Party that Attlee can accept anyone as the future leader of the Labor Party, but not Morrison.
But in front of Mountbatten, Attlee did not show such worries and encouraged the new First Sea Lord, "Louis, do you have any views on the future development of the navy? Let me put it bluntly, in the context of nuclear war,
Under the threat, many people have made some controversial remarks about the existence of the Grand Fleet."
"Is that so?" Mountbatten pretended to be suddenly enlightened and said in a cautious tone, "Then...what is it specifically?"
Attlee told Mountbatten: "I think the Treasury is no longer interested in the Navy. The Navy ranks third among the services. And there has always been doubt about the effectiveness of the Navy in an age of nuclear war. Even other
The generals of the military services also have this view."
Even Field Marshal Montgomery said in a speech at the Royal United Military College, "The navy could only play a small role in the world war. In other periods, the navy did almost nothing."
Mountbatten remembered his frequent communication with his son-in-law who was far away in Kuala Lumpur, and had discussed the status of the navy more than once. He pondered for a moment and said, "The status of the navy is a macro issue. In terms of status, it depends on the United Kingdom.
Is it a global power or an insignificant role that only exists in Europe? If it is the former, the importance of the navy can be solved through structural optimization and can play a role together with other services. If it is the latter, the navy is indeed useless.
"
"As for the optimized development of the navy, of course we must find ways to build a navy that is sufficiently threatening but not bloated. Among other things, the overseas assets of 3.5 billion pounds also require global naval protection.
"
"I almost forgot, your son-in-law is the deputy secretary-general of the Overseas Assets Management Committee." Prime Minister Attlee nodded. How many state-owned overseas assets the UK currently has cannot be hidden from Mountbatten.
"The navy can also become a more covert launch platform. I am referring to the role of nuclear submarines." Mountbatten seemed to have been thinking about this issue for a long time and proposed two cornerstones of the navy's positioning.
The Navy must first let others admit that Royal Navy ships can become carriers of large-scale traveling rockets in the future, and then other matters can be put on the agenda.
The second cornerstone is the assurance of support for amphibious strike forces operating around the world to protect British interests.
Regardless of whether it is the Near East, the Middle East or the Far East, any of the three major joint combat commands needs the navy to play its role.
"So the first thing I did when I took office as First Sea Lord was to visit the United States to talk about the issue of nuclear submarines." General Mountbatten added, "Only when we have a reliable counterattack force can we calmly reduce the number of surface fleets.
Scale. The best way to deal with submarines is to develop submarines."
The submarine threat Mountbatten mentioned refers to Soviet nuclear submarines. The Soviet Union's nuclear submarines have already started construction. They are the second nuclear submarines to start construction after the USS Nautilus nuclear submarine, and the intelligence has been mastered by the United Kingdom.
The Soviet Union's first-generation attack nuclear submarine, called the Red October class by NATO, or N-class for short, was developed by the Soviet Malachite Design Bureau and built by the Severodvinsk Shipyard. This intelligence was certified, and the United Kingdom was the first country to feel the pressure. After all, the United States
On the other side of the Atlantic, there is no one from England who feels the same way.
As the commander of the Grand Fleet of the Royal Navy, Mountbatten was of course fully aware of the development of navies in various countries. After all, this was his beloved profession and he would not mess with it like other aspects.
"Well, of course it couldn't be better, but in the United States, success is the best, and you must be mentally prepared for failure." Attlee heard that Mountbatten's first thing when he took office was to fight with the Americans.
When it comes to nuclear submarine cooperation, my heart is still pounding.
He was unwilling to say that the Americans had betrayed their trust, but the fact was that they tore up the agreement after the successful nuclear weapons test.
But when he thought that if Mountbatten was still rejected by the Americans because of his good connections, it would also be a good thing to give up on the British's own research as soon as possible, so he did not stop him.
Nuclear submarines are indeed very important to Britain, especially after the Soviet Union's nuclear submarine intelligence was certified, the cabinet's support for the nuclear submarine project increased again. Attlee also hoped that Mountbatten could make progress.
"The international situation is very chaotic, France is withdrawing from Asia, and India is promoting some international conference that excludes the free world. Louis, you are the last British-Indian Governor-General, what do you think Nehru was thinking?" Attlee scratched the light bulb.
The bright forehead shows a typical British hairstyle.
Having thick hair like Mountbatten is the dream of many people, not to mention that Mountbatten had more than that.
The word wealth means wealth to most people! But for Mountbatten, wealth and honor were his embodiment.
"What about Nehru? That's right. We look for the answer from history." Mountbatten was also a master of conversational skills. While answering, he was thinking about his son-in-law who really showed concern for India.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! He, the British Governor-General of India, is also very happy. After taking office, the most common thing he did was to hold banquets in the Governor's Mansion and mix with the upper class people in India.
He looked familiar, and his son-in-law was the one who had a deep understanding of India.
"Nehru enjoyed almost complete freedom in India's foreign affairs. There are five main core ideas formed in practice: independence, nationalism, anti-colonialism, internationalism and neutralism or non-alignment. They became India's
Guiding principles of foreign affairs. He is also wary of the United States because the United States believes that Kashmir should be independent."
Nehru visited the United States in 1949, but this visit did not intensify the friendship between the United States and India. On the contrary, after Nehru returned to the United States, he led the nationalization and took back the Mysore Iron and Steel Company owned by the United States Steel Company.
mine.
Of course, Mountbatten knew the ins and outs of this, because the Mysore iron ore was sold to the U.S. Steel Company by his son-in-law. But the fundamental reason was the U.S. attitude toward Kashmir when Nehru visited the United States.
When India and Pakistan disputed the ownership of Kashmir, the United States advocated for the independence of Kashmir and became the Switzerland of the East. It believed that Kashmir was the heart of Asia and had an important strategic position. This made Nehru very angry.
Attlee nodded and approved Mountbatten's judgment. He believed that Mountbatten, as the Governor-General of Britain and India, should have such an understanding.
Little did he know that there was someone else who had such an acquaintance, but he always communicated with his father-in-law by telegram.
After a while, Mountbatten left No. 10 Downing Street, but he did not go home. Instead, he rushed to the Admiralty Headquarters building impatiently. The eagerness in his heart was evident.
It wouldn't be a dream come true if I didn't sit in the office where my father once lived.
Although there is now a yellow-brown building in front of the window of Prince Louis' office, blocking the sunlight from outside, this did not damage Mountbatten's good mood. This was a position he had dreamed of for many years and dreamed about countless times while dreaming.
been.
Nowadays, some people question the status of the Royal Navy, but Mountbatten still forgot the small discomfort and devoted himself to his first day of work as Lord of the Admiralty.
"Mrs. Wilson, congratulations on your father becoming the First Sea Lord." York Schweizer expressed congratulations to the woman in front of him. After several meetings, he also knew Pamela Mountbatten and hoped that others would call her Mrs. Wilson.
.
Ike Keswick expressed less clearly, "Today's newspaper said that ethnic conflicts broke out in East Malaysia and hundreds of people died. Commissioner Wilson should be busy."
"If he is not busy, he will expose this fake news in a few days and attribute the emergence of fake news to Indonesia or some other country, a conspiracy to disrupt British Malaya and sow harmonious ethnic relations." Pamela
Mountbatten maintained his ladylike posture and said casually, "The fake news was also released by the Administrative Office."
"Why do you do this?" York Schweizer asked in confusion. "It also shocked us. All the major newspapers are talking about it. Who will believe the newspapers in the future?"
"Speaking of freedom of speech, it is better not to instigate ethnic conflicts between the two major ethnic groups in Malaya and not be too harmonious." Pamela Mountbatten chuckled, "By the way, expose the fake news to throw dirty water on Indonesia."
At this moment, the door was pushed open, and the mastermind behind the instigation of ethnic conflicts appeared, followed by a Chinese face.
The two talked and laughed, glanced at the two guests of the Schweizer family and the Keswick family, and Alan Wilson took out the telegram from his pocket, "The telegram from my father is to share the joy."
"Father obviously talks to you more than he talks to me." Pamela Mountbatten said with a hint of complaint. Then she watched her husband and the guest go on their way, then focused on his guest again, and continued to talk one after another.
test.
She felt that the two of them were ready to compromise if they came to visit her again after her father was promoted.