Chapter 344 Weed Eradication Plan (2)

In the modern military history of the United Kingdom, there was an Army Marshal who possessed both courage and strategic acumen, was rich in innovative spirit, and during the precarious situation in the North African theater of World War II, he assumed the position of Commander-in-Chief of the British Middle East Forces. He turned the tide of the war, laying the foundation for the ultimate victory of the Allies over Rommel. Unfortunately, the first to recognize his military talent were not the British but his opponents, the Germans. In Rommel's eyes, "He is the only British general with the talent of a grand marshal; his abilities surpass Montgomery's by far."

He is Claude John Eyre Auchinleck, who was granted the title of Army Marshal in 1947 and ultimately established himself as a distinguished military figure.

Claude John Eyre Auchinleck graduated from Wellington College and joined the 62nd Punjabis in 1904.

During World War I, he served in Egypt and Mesopotamia. In the early days of World War II, he commanded British forces in northern Norway. Shortly afterward, he assumed the position of Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in India. In 1941, under challenging circumstances for the Eighth Army, he took over as Commander-in-Chief of the British Middle East Forces. During his tenure, he successfully penetrated Cyrenaica but was later repelled by Rommel. He organized the Alam Halfa defensive operation, creating conditions for the victory in the Battle of Alam Halfa. In 1943, he returned to India to serve as Commander-in-Chief of the British Army. He later served as the Supreme Commander of India and Pakistan, receiving a promotion to Army Marshal in 1946.

He excelled in both offense and defense, remained calm in critical situations, but his only flaw was having too broad a command. According to Rommel, in terms of personal capabilities, Auchinleck was much stronger than Montgomery, making him the only British general worthy of respect.

In the year 1935 of this timeline, Auchinleck was promoted to Major General and appointed as the commander of the Beshawar Brigade. The following year, due to his successful suppression of a local uprising, he was appointed as the Deputy Chief of Staff of the British-Indian Army. During a celebration banquet that evening, a local Indian servant secretly poisoned the drinks, instantly killing over a dozen British officers, including Major General Auchinleck.

Similar incidents occurred, and Wilhelm's "Weed Eradication Plan" proceeded quite smoothly. Apart from those seemingly indestructible characters with protagonist halos, almost everyone who could be a stumbling block was eliminated.

Wilhelm sighed. "Arrange for Dr. Albert to board an American passenger liner, review the passenger list, and prevent important figures from boarding. Sink the passenger liner in the vicinity of British submarine activity. Blame the sinking on British submarines, and then we launch unrestricted submarine warfare."

"Unrestricted submarine warfare" was not Wilhelm's invention but a submarine warfare strategy executed by the German Navy during World War I. In this strategy, German submarines could sink any merchant ship heading to British waters without prior warning, aiming to impose a blockade on Britain.

Despite German assurances to avoid sinking neutral vessels, due to concerns about the presence of Q-ships, submarine captains received instructions to prioritize submarine safety. Therefore, accidental attacks were unavoidable, and the Germans hoped that such threats would deter neutral vessels from entering British waters.

As the seriousness of unrestricted submarine warfare was underestimated by Britain and other Allied countries, and anti-submarine defense was still in its early stages, unrestricted submarine warfare immediately caused severe losses to the Allied powers. The loss of Allied merchant ships increased from 300,000 tons in January 1917 to 400,000 tons in February, surging to 500,000 tons in March, and peaking at 850,000 tons in April. Among British outbound merchant ships, one out of every four, on average, was sunk.

In that year, German submarines sank a total of 2,566 Allied merchant ships, with a registered gross tonnage of 5.73 million tons, of which British merchant ships accounted for three-fifths. Meanwhile, the total tonnage of ships built in Britain that year was only 2.7 million tons.

Britain heavily publicized Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare, condemning Germany for disregarding the laws of civilized nations during war. However, neutral countries believed that Britain's practice of confiscating all cargo on board was not much better.

Although there were concerns about the United States' reaction to unrestricted submarine warfare, Reinhard had become accustomed to unquestionably obeying Wilhelm's instructions. "Understood. When should Dr. Albert depart?"

"Sooner, the better. If the United States dares to say anything, claim that they leaked Dr. Albert's whereabouts to the British, and the target of the British is Dr. Albert. The United States is also responsible for Dr. Albert's death." If the British dared to attack a passenger liner and kill Dr. Albert, it was only natural for Germany to retaliate. If the Americans dared to say anything, splash the dirty water back onto them.

Moreover, Wilhelm wasn't too worried about the U.S. response to unrestricted submarine warfare.

Unrestricted submarine warfare also led to the sinking of several U.S. ships, resulting in the U.S. cutting diplomatic ties with Germany and ceasing all trade. However, the sinking of U.S. merchant ships did not prompt the U.S. Congress to cast a vote in favor of war. It was Germany's more daring and radical actions that directly led to U.S. involvement in the war.

In early 1917, German Foreign Minister Zimmermann sent a telegram to the German embassy in Mexico, urging an alliance with Mexico. Germany would fully support Mexico in regaining Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona from the United States. The telegram was intercepted by the British and handed over to U.S. Secretary of State Lansing. On March 1, under the direction of U.S. President Wilson, the contents of the telegram were made public and were confirmed by Zimmermann himself.

This was the Zimmermann Telegram incident that triggered the United States' entry into World War I. On April 6, the United States declared war on Germany.

Therefore, as long as Germany did not extend its reach to the American continent, sinking a few American ships would not provoke a significant reaction.

"Also, any progress from the secret envoys sent to Ireland?"

Reinhard lowered his head with some embarrassment. "They merely indicated a desire to remain neutral and expressed no intention to declare war on Britain."

In Britain, there has always been a problem.

In its most powerful era, Britain nearly conquered the entire world, but they failed to subdue a nation close at hand. That nation, though battered by the British, never truly submitted.

That nation is the Kingdom of Ireland.

In 1801, the Kingdom of Ireland and the Kingdom of Great Britain were unified, and Ireland was incorporated into Britain. Subsequently, the Irish independence movement began, and in 1916, the anti-British "Easter Rising" erupted in Dublin.

In 1919, a more significant development occurred when the majority of Irish MPs elected in the 1918 general election refused to take their seats in the British House of Commons. They independently formed the Irish Parliament and, in January 1919, issued a unilateral declaration of independence in the name of the "Irish Republic."

Of course, Britain would not agree. As a result, after several years of conflict, the final outcome was that Britain was forced to allow the establishment of the "Free State" in the southern 26 counties, while the northern 6 counties remained part of Britain.

After all, during the immigration period, a large number of Scots arrived in Northern Ireland, establishing a rooted population to some extent. Consequently, the full name of Britain became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which was almost a stain on the empire.

Although the southern part of Ireland gained independence, they did not give up the opportunity to continue the struggle. They sought to reunify Northern Ireland and become a single country. In 1919, they even established the IRA, the Irish Republican Army, which became synonymous with terrorism through various violent activities to achieve political goals.

It was not until 2006, in the future, that they signed a ceasefire agreement with the British government. Yes, only a "ceasefire" agreement. There was no surrender, just a state of truce.

(TLN: 2006 seems to be the wrong date but I couldn't find the right one. Pls do comment if you know it.)

Naturally, the British did not like this Ireland. There was even a saying that Ireland is just a piece of excrement that God dropped next to Britain.

Wilhelm sneered. "Maintain neutrality? Tell the secret envoys to inform them: would Germany appreciate their neutrality? We don't need allies who just want to stay neutral. If they want to pick a side, they better do it soon. There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world. They want to remain neutral? Well, when we settle things with Britain, we won't be supporting their unification."

"Understood."

After Reinhard left, Wilhelm looked at the "chosen land" on the map and muttered softly, "Lame bastard, just wait. Your time to cry will come sooner or later."