Chapter 743： American aid?

The news of Greece's defeat has had a huge impact on Yugoslavia, and it has the same effect on other countries, except that Britain and France have the greatest impact.

Churchill, who had served as prime minister for less than a month, hurriedly boarded the car. A tired face still appeared in his mind. He was talking with French Prime Minister Darardy in Paris.

"What's the matter, Prime Minister, are the negotiations with France going well?"

Halifax, the foreign secretary who greeted him in the car, asked.

Churchill rubbed his somewhat sore eyes and replied. "It's not going well. The French did not agree to incorporate Syria into our Middle East command system. They think their troops are sufficient to stick to the coast. They just agreed to coordinate with our country on the issue of Libya."

Having said that, Churchill couldn't help complaining. "What's the use of this? Our Middle Eastern forces need to give priority to keeping Egypt instead of attacking Libya. Although the oil there is very important to the Axis powers, there is no way we can reach it now."

Having said this, Churchill thought that the Secretary of the Air Force Sinclair was preparing a plan, and skipped this. "Now our country needs troops everywhere, but there are shortages everywhere. It would be nice if this **** war broke out three years later."

When Churchill said this, he suddenly thought of something and asked Halifax. "By the way, how did the United States respond to our request?"

"Not yet. At present, President Roosevelt is unable to approve the lease proposal because there are too many oppositions and the Congress does not approve it."

In Halifax's words, Churchill did not feel the shock, but he continued to speak. "Then continue talking. We must not let the United States stay out of the situation. They should end early. This is not the last war. There is not so much time to prepare."

It is true that after the outbreak of World War II, he planned to bring the United States into the field, but he was the Secretary of the Navy at that time and had no right to dictate foreign affairs. After he came to power, he became more eager to seek US aid. Because the addition of Romania puts greater pressure on Britain and France, they also urgently need a weighty ally.

The fact that Sudro divided Poland also told them that it was no longer possible for the Soviet Union to become an ally to declare war on the Axis, so there was only one choice for the United States.

At this time, the United States' foreign attitude is also changing, and its foreign policy is gradually changing from isolation to intervention. It's just that Churchill thinks that the change in US policy is too slow, so he intends to speed up the change in US foreign policy.

In fact, Chamberlain had already done this before. In June, the British King George and his wife visited the United States and were warmly welcomed by the American people.

The US President Roosevelt was also pushing for a change in foreign policy, because he had already foreseen changes in the European situation.

From 1935 to 1937, three Chinese legislations were issued in succession. The main content of the first neutral bill stipulates that an embargo on arms, ammunition, and military supplies shall be imposed on all countries to which it is delivered, with a validity period of 6 months. The bill also shows that the US foreign policy is strictly neutral and the implementation of an isolation policy.

Roosevelt was dissatisfied with this, and then he continued to demand greater presidential powers. After a month of discussions, the neutrality bill was introduced for the second time. In addition to the above clauses, a clause prohibiting the granting of loans has been added and the president’s right to freely dispose of the arms trade has also been rejected.

Roosevelt did not give up. He later made another request, and this time it was rejected again, maintaining the previous terms. It just adds a cash self-carrying clause.

This was mainly due to the major European powers of the United States at that time. Regarding their military and equipment warfare, the mainstream idea of ​​the United States at that time was still making a fortune.

This naturally made Roosevelt very dissatisfied, so he first delivered an epidemic prevention speech, condemning the aggression of certain countries without name. At the same time warn against imagining that the United States can stay out of the situation.

Later, as the Czech Republic was annexed by Germany, Roosevelt even spoke in Congress. "The current Chinese legislation may help the invading country to the victimized country."

With Germany's declaration of war on Poland, after studying the strength of the two sides, the attitude of the United States began to change. In particular, after the Romanian air raid on Alexandria, the United States' attitude was even more relaxed. Roosevelt took this opportunity to promote the amendment of the Chinese legislation. The biggest change was the removal of the arms embargo, the purchase of goods in cash, and the transportation of goods on their own.

In fact, Roosevelt had been involved in arms sales before. After Germany annexed Czechoslovakia, Britain and France also began preparatory work for the war. The French government once requested the United States to order 600 planes in early 1939 and requested an urgent order. President Roosevelt personally approved the order and lowered the loan price, so France placed a second large order.

At the same time, Roosevelt put pressure on the military leaders to provide the British with strategic materials necessary for operations so that the British could fight the Dro League. He ordered the Army and the Navy to "turn over the inventory" and hand over all available weapons and equipment to private companies, and then resell them to the United Kingdom through them.

It's just that such assistance does not satisfy Churchill, the large warship that Britain is short of. The loss of the Mediterranean fleet increased the detour distance of ships by nearly 70%, reducing the efficiency of transport between Britain and Asia.

The current situation of insufficient British and French warships makes Churchill particularly want to lease warships from the United States. For this reason, he proposed to exchange islands for warships, intending to exchange 6 islands including the Bahamas and Jamaica plus 300 million US dollars worth of bonds and precious metals in exchange for 4 US battleships and 2 aircraft carriers.

Facing Churchill's proposal, Roosevelt was stunned. Although from every aspect, the United States earns blood, he is not at all optimistic about selling his own warships, especially the large warships he uses, to the United Kingdom.

Although he very much wanted to promote the success of this event, to help Britain make up for the loss of the Mediterranean warship. But reason told him that the chance of success in this matter is very low. This is because this is too much stimulus for the current United States, because the American people are not even prepared at all.

Sure enough, after the British proposal was handed over to Parliament, it immediately caused an uproar. Faced with the British proposal, these MPs rejected it without hesitation.

Because although the feeling of isolation has diminished, most people and public opinion are still not prepared, and they dare not agree to such a proposal. Because the political implications of selling warships are too strong, the United States is not yet ready to end.

Although he was rejected this time, Churchill would not give up, and then he would think of other ways to drag the United States into the water.