"Norman, what do the Portuguese want the battleship to do?" Prime Minister Attlee looked at the cabinet secretary and had no special emotion for this request. "As far as I know, the Portuguese navy is very weak."

"Maybe it's for the safety of Portuguese Goa?" Norman Brooke pondered for a while and gave the answer, "Other than that, there should be no explanation. Prime Minister, have you seen the withdrawal route of the British troops in India earlier? of."

"Oh, yes. Part of it was withdrawn to the Persian Gulf, and part of it was withdrawn to Malaya." Attlee nodded clearly. He had indeed seen such a report on the withdrawal of troops, but did it contain the contents of Portuguese Goa?

Alan Wilson on the side, partly to the Persian Gulf, partly to Malaya? Didn't you write this report yourself?

"The government of Portugal, that person from Salazar?" Prime Minister Attlee muttered inexplicably, and then asked, "What is the current state of the Nelson-class battleship. Is there any technical problem?"

"It has been lying on the slipway for more than a year, and there is naturally no problem technically. Because the Portuguese Navy has no experience in handling large warships, if it is hired, the Royal Navy may have to send a group of naval officers and soldiers to help with training." Norman Brook speaks the truth, purely from a technical point of view.

After the war, the two Nelson-class battleships were withdrawn from active service one after another. The "Rodney" was transferred to the reserve in the same year, and was deregistered in the second year. The "Nelson" was changed to a training ship in the second year, just this year. It was also disbanded, and two battleships were already lying in the shipyard waiting to be dismantled.

Prime Minister Attlee's dissatisfaction with Portugal is only on Salazar and his government.

"Does Allen know about Portugal?" Attlee didn't mention the battleship lease, but asked Allen Wilson whether Portugal was a credible country.

"When I was in British India, I also had a lot of contact with Goa." Alan Wilson said, "The local Portuguese officials in Goa have also told me many times that Portugal has been in the country for hundreds of years. An ally of the British Empire. Portugal was a small country in the World War, and it was next to Spain. Some decisions were made by themselves. They were willing to sign an agreement with us, and the British army could use Goa's port for repairs at any time. This time, the US aid plan, There should be one in Portugal."

"Let's discuss this matter. I want to see how the Americans judge." Prime Minister Attlee scratched his smooth forehead. His brilliant head was very bright, showing that this head was thinking.

Germany blitzed Poland, World War II broke out, and Britain declared war on Germany. Salazar was caught in a rather awkward situation. Portugal and Great Britain were traditional allies and should have stood with them as they did in World War I; but Italy and Germany also shared certain interests with the Salazar government.

However, Salazar is wary of both. Remaining neutral seems to be the only option, and such an option has brought many benefits to Portugal. In addition to selling war materials to the warring parties, free ports along the Portuguese coast also flourished.

But in fact, this is not a big deal. Not many good friends can take chestnuts from the fire, let alone countries. After all, Portugal eventually joined the Allies, but only after the war became clear.

Alan Wilson remembered that the Marshall Plan had Portugal's share, but the amount was as he said before, not to say that it was not at all, it was basically no. He remembered that in the Marshall Plan, the amount of aid received by Portugal was only more than Iceland is tall, and at present the population of Iceland is 120,000.

But this is also much better than Spain. Apart from Franco's factors, Mexico, which has now been replaced by a new president, has expressed that it wants to live in harmony with the United States. It is fiercely biting Spain and wants to be the leader of the Spanish-speaking world.

Even considering the attitude of the Mexicans who finally gave up their anti-American stance, the United States would not include Spain in the Marshall Plan at this time.

Prime Minister Attlee did not want to lease the battleship to Portugal, but he was not determined, but only expressed that he was considering it.

Alan Wilson actually really wants this thing to succeed, and it is also dismantling it, and maybe he can make a fortune on loan. In the name of helping the Portuguese navy training, share some of the costs. Two battleships that are no longer young, can they still be a threat to Britain?

And there is a reason that Salazar also invested considerable energy in colonial policy. In the early years, Salazar served as Minister of Finance and Minister of Colonial Affairs at the same time, and issued detailed decrees. The decree called for strengthening the control of colonization, abolishing the colony's right to self-government, encouraging colonization and sending missionary teams, in order to strengthen the connection between the colony and the Portuguese mainland.

Such leaders and the countries controlled by such leaders are exactly the thugs that the British Empire needs at present. If the colonial family is to be united, such a country should be united.

It seems that in this matter, we still have to wait for Mountbatten to return to see if there is a turnaround. Alan Wilson does not have the ability to influence the Prime Minister's judgment.

Alan Wilson delivered today's report. Although he also spent four hours in today's meeting to supplement yesterday's colonial issue, the main topic has changed.

This can't be blamed for Alan Wilson's cold rice. Colonial Expert is his current character, and he must make it look like no one understands better than me. The more people discuss the establishment, the more stable it is.

The main topic of today's meeting is that the UK hopes that Belgium, the Netherlands and even Luxembourg will send domestic troops to the British-occupied areas for defense, because the British army is currently disarmament.

Although there is only one Grand Ducal Guard in Luxembourg, there are only two battalions. But people like Alan Wilson have never known what it means to be embarrassed. Even if there is only one battalion, they should fulfill their obligation to send an occupying army, not to mention the establishment of the Grand Duke's Guard. There are two battalions.

Even when Americans go to India, he has to be personally responsible for exchanging dollars and rupees. He has never been a frivolous person, and he will never mention it because of his small benefits. Now the British Empire also needs to be diligent and thrifty.

Naturally, he refuted the difficulties expressed by Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Now that the world war has ended, what should the army be stationed in the country? Domestic affairs can be left to the police department to handle, the army is stationed in Germany, and when it is time for vacation, army soldiers can take the train back to China.

"Now the surrounding countries are all allies, such as the Belgian and Dutch troops, and there is absolutely no need to station them in the country. We want to prevent the re-emergence of Germany, but the most important thing is to be against the Soviet Union."

Repeating the rhetoric made at today's meeting, Alan Wilson reported, "After patient communication, the three countries have agreed to move most of the troops remaining in the country, except the colonial troops, into the British-occupied areas to fill the British-occupied areas. By reducing the vacancies left, we can feel a little more at ease.”

This is very much appreciated by Prime Minister Attlee. It is not that he is unwilling to show the military might of the British Empire, but it costs money to show the military might.

It is true that the United Kingdom cannot be compared with the United States and the Soviet Union now, and must think of ways to do it in terms of military spending. Disarmament is necessary, both in terms of military savings and post-war reconstruction.

Reconstruction after the war requires labor, and saving the remaining money from the military will allow Prime Minister Attlee to have more money to promote the National Health Service, the Alloy Tube Project and nationalization.

If the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg are willing to help the UK, this is of course a good thing for the current UK.

"Very well, the representatives of the two observer states should return to Brussels tomorrow. It is best to come up with a result for the meeting proposal involving people's livelihood and economic revitalization." Attlee nodded with satisfaction, "After all The Brussels Treaty Organization was established not only to guard against Germany, but also under the banner of post-war revitalization.”

The two observer countries mentioned by Prime Minister Attlee are Sweden and Denmark. Alan Wilson did not know that the Brussels Treaty Organization still had two observer states.

After all, it has been two years since Alan Wilson attended the first meeting and returned to British India to contribute to the peace of the subcontinent. I don’t know except that in addition to the six colonial countries and one Luxembourg at the beginning, now he has absorbed Sweden and Denmark are observer states.

The current Brussels Treaty Organization has seven member states and two observer states, the two being Sweden and Denmark. Of course this is also normal, an organization always has to expand.

"It is not easy to reach an agreement on civil issues, especially the fishery agreement~lightnovelpub.net~ negotiations such as the division of fishing grounds." Prime Minister Attlee said in a very embarrassed way, "Every country has its own ideas, especially France. People don't want to give in."

"You can't hold a meeting without any results. In fact, you can find a way to make concessions on the surface, but there is no concession." Norman Brooke suggested, "Steel, coal and other industries are too difficult to talk about."

"Yeah, it's not as easy to reach a consensus on the issues of steel and coal industries as it is the issue of colonies." Prime Minister Attlee smiled wryly. Now, it seems that the most consensus on the Brussels Treaty Organization is really the issue of colonies.

Not to mention steel and coal, and even the fishery agreement has not made much progress. He sighed, "How can there be such an easy industry to reach a consensus?"

"Actually, movies can be considered an industry, right?" Alan Wilson said cautiously, "Now countries have not fully recovered their traditional industries, let alone movies that entertain the public. Let's talk about the integration of the movie industry first, as a It is the result of this meeting, and it is enough to announce it to the public.”

"Won't the French create obstacles?" Prime Minister Attlee recalled the stubborn attitude of the French when it comes to fishing.

"Probably not. Movies were invented by the French." Norman Brooke nodded and said with a smile, "France also maintains that it is a European movie power and will not oppose this issue."

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