Chapter 2299： Helplessness and reality

"It seems that we can do very little in this negotiation." After returning to the hotel where he was staying, Lloyd George said to Asquith.

"Yes, defeat in a war is the original sin. There is not much room for any country to face such a defeat. The Germans have the advantage, and the Germans can choose to start the war again. And the British Empire may be in a matter of months. The problem of social supply has caused great turmoil.” Prime Minister Asquith said.

"Then our cooperation with the Americans..." Although in the negotiation with the US Secretary of State, Lloyd George finally chose to slam the door and leave. But do people have to bow their heads under the eaves? If you really think that there is no talk in Germany, then you can only try again with the Americans.

"The Americans don't think about it. We will go to the Americans at this time. We can only let the Americans see our weakness! They will get worse! The Americans are demons. They are willing to help us just to make us cannon fodder! Reasons to forgive us! They will only use our flesh and blood to strengthen themselves!"

"Moreover, even though the Germans' conditions are so harsh, I still think it is better to promise the Germans than to seek the help of the Americans, because the Americans are destined to let us lose Canada, and their restrictive effect on Germany is not obvious. ! Exchange Canada for possible German concessions, this transaction is obviously a loss!" Asquith said.

"Then we should now think about the terms in which the Germans may make concessions. For those that are irreversible, our efforts will not be useful, but for those that can be recovered, we must strive for them." Count Balfour said.

"The Germans have no possibility of concession on the issue of territory and colony. The crown prince did not want to talk about this issue at all, and hinted that if we do not make concessions, then it would mean war, and as the Germans said, whether it is The United States is still Japan or other countries. They all want to see us lose these colonies. We are isolated and helpless!"

"There is still some leeway on the issue of armaments. Even if the Germans eventually sign a treaty with us, we can still avoid the restrictions of the treaty through some other means and slowly carry out research and development. Of course, it is very difficult for the navy to break through. And the arms limitation treaty is a very complicated system, which certainly cannot be solved in the short term. So this issue can be temporarily put aside."

"The only thing that is necessary for negotiation at this stage is the issue of indemnity, and there is not much room for the amount of indemnity and interest. The only thing that can be discussed is probably the time limit and the method of repayment!" Prime Minister Asquith analyzed. , This point, he said very accurately! The Germans are also very tight on compensation, and there is not much room for bargaining. The only thing the British are more certain about is the payment and repayment method.

Obviously, it is impossible to give banknotes as much as 4.5 billion pounds in compensation. After all, although it is a gold standard system, the credit of the pound sterling is already low to a certain extent, and a considerable part of the compensation must be paid in precious metals. The other part of the compensation will be paid in kind. You must know that in history, the extent of land scraping in Britain and France is simply outrageous. They even used the German locomotives, and the carpets of the Kiel Naval Academy were taken away. ...... But this time, it was the German who scraped the land!

If possible, the British would rather use minerals, raw materials, agricultural products and even machinery to pay off debts, but also reduce the proportion of precious metals as much as possible. After all, things like gold and silver are representatives of wealth at all times, especially now, when the pound is already unstable, if the British need to buy something, they can only use the still strong dollar or precious metals!

"The Germans seem to imply that we can do business with the Japanese in this negotiation." After a moment of silence, Lloyd George said to Prime Minister Asquith.

"Yes, this is what the Germans implied. The Allied Powers are over, and the biggest foundation of cooperation between the United States and Germany has cracked. In this case, the Americans can cooperate with us in order to contain Germany, and the same goes for the Germans for Restricting the United States will also cause Americans to stumble." Asquith said.

"If the Americans knew about this, would they change their attitude towards us and towards Germany?" Count Balfour said with bright eyes.

According to the understanding of normal people, virtue is an ally, and the enemy is the Japanese. Now, the Germans suddenly hinted at the British, saying that you can provide the Japanese with arms and supplies to counter the Americans, so good, know this What do Americans think about things? It will definitely fall out with the Germans! It is possible for the two to turn against each other. Since the confrontation between the United States and Germany has occurred or even turned into hostility, will the Americans take advantage of the situation to pull the British and then deal with the Germans together? Or to ask for a lower point If the Americans are no longer obsessed with separating Canada from the UK, the British can immediately discuss a lot of issues with the Americans, whether it is trade, technical cooperation or military cooperation. It's all fine!

"You think too much." Prime Minister Asquith said. "We can only sell arms to the Japanese, and we must also bear this responsibility."

"The Americans should be clear that without the acquiescence of the Germans, it is impossible for us to take back our previous weapons and sell them to the Japanese! We now have no financial resources and resources to produce new weapons, and as a defeated country, if Germany does not Agree, how could we insist on this matter?" Count Balfour said in a puzzled manner.

"There is a price to do anything! While enjoying the convenience of providing war supplies to Japan, we must shoulder this responsibility! Imagine if the Americans discovered all this and then protested to Germany, Germany would then If we are forbidden to sell arms to Japan, what will happen?” Prime Minister Asquis said: “We will lose hundreds of millions of pounds, and we will not be able to repay the defeat indemnities. It is possible for the British Empire to go bankrupt! So, to Japan Selling military supplies is not only the Germans wanting us to do it, but also we must do it! Do you understand?"

"And it's not just economics and trade, we must even promote the meaning of the Anglo-Japanese alliance in the media or other public occasions, even though we know that Japan is an insatiable villain and a guy who will only drag us down!" Asquith Said.

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