Chapter 1172 The quiet before the storm

Timaiya sneered again and again he said: “If this plan from the hands of others, perhaps there is a possibility of exploration, but you are involved in, the situation is completely different, a short period of ten years, you rose from a major to lieutenant generals, sat on the throne of the chief of staff, what do you count, you really commanded a battle? It’s not because of your pretty face and clever mouth. I resigned once for the sake of your promotion, and sadly, it didn’t stand in the way of your prosperous rise to the top.”

Admiral Timaiya was the previous Chief of General Staff of the Indian Army and had always had a problem with India’s military adventures. Until he was replaced last year, Timaiya is now not actually an Establishment General.

Unlike a newcomer like Lt. Gen. Kaur, Timaiya’s speech at this point, though vehement, did not have many voices of approval.

This enraged the less senior Kaur, who thought he was leaning on his seniority, “You better put some sense into it, this is a war council, not a parliament where personal attacks can be made at will, my letter of appointment was signed by Prime Minister Nehru himself, and for that reason you are resigning again as much as you can, but this time, there will be no one to persuade you to take it back.”

When Kaur was promoted from the post of Major-General Commander of the 4th Division to the post of Chief of Staff, Timaiya had objected strenuously to the idea that he was so good at hyperbole, highly fanciful, and had no real combat experience, that he was really not qualified for the post which was second only to that of Chief of Staff.

But Nehru categorically overruled him and signed the letter of appointment, for which Timaiya, in a fit of pique, asked for his resignation.

Nehru retained Timaiya, but ultimately did not change his appointment, and last year, dismissed Timaiya as Chief of Army Staff.

Timaiya was not opposed to the offensive, but the flawed and whimsical plan made the Chief of Army Staff feel a sense of impending doom, and the courageous policy of moving forward? In his eyes it was just a load of shit.

Even if Mountbatten had returned to India to make plans, it would not have been so wishful thinking.

This was a moment of national destiny and he could not remain silent. He had volunteered to attend the conference, and he had made his case, but he had received nothing but sympathetic glances from Lt. Gen. Singh and cold stares and scornful smirks from the corners of his mouth.

“Admiral, you are no longer Chief of the General Staff.” Lt. Gen. Kaur spoke with a sneer, “You were asked to come to the meeting only to be polite, not when you were pointing your finger at India’s bravery. Aren’t you ashamed to be such a coward?”

As if he had not heard, Timaiya said to Defense Minister Menon, “Mr. Minister, wake up from your dream! The enemy is not invulnerable, nor will they never fight back. Think of the Korean War, I hate to say it, but I can’t help saying that they were better fighters than the Indian army.”

This last sentence enraged all the senior generals present. The oval table erupted in scolding: “You don’t deserve to be a soldier!”

Menon merely blinked his thick eyelids, did not even raise his head, and said with a wave of his hand: “Go away, you are indeed old.”

The last ditch effort of the former Chief of General Staff being ignored and all the Indian generals attending the meeting, with dislike in their eyes, drained Timaiya of all his strength, and Defense Minister Menon’s telling him to leave was the last straw that broke his back.

Timaiya rose shakily and left the unwelcoming conference room of the Ministry of Defense, where he had served for more than ten years, and no one cared, let alone retained, indifferently facing the old general who had been swept away.

As he neared the door, he suddenly turned and bellowed majestically, “Sons of bitches, you’ll be shot one by one.”

At eight o’clock in the morning, went to Whitehall leave Alan Wilson returned home, send his own family as well as mother-in-law Edwina to the airport, also came out to see off Pamela’s sister, Mr. and Mrs. Patricia two.

And his hand, holding Wick handed him, the ambassador in India sent a telegram, India’s defense conference a night, the contents of the Allen Wilson’s hands, before leaving British India, he had consciously mine.

Of course it had been cleared by Nehru, and with the passage of time it would be of lesser and lesser use in the future, but this copy of the minutes of a high-level meeting of the Indian defense ministry still appeared in his hands.

On the way to the airport Alan Wilson had been looking at the contents of the meeting, and in the terminal he leaked it to Field Marshal Mountbatten and Mr. and Mrs. Patricia.

“War seems inevitable?” Mountbatten was interested in India, he was the last Viceroy of British India anyhow, although it had not been a very memorable journey, “When will it start?”

“Perhaps just immediately, perhaps in a few days. I don’t know!” Alan Wilson had forgotten when this war and the Cuban Missile Crisis officially broke out, but it was either two days early or two days late, not much difference.

“Where do we stand in Britain if war does break out.” Patricia’s husband, John, was also caught up in the situation, coming over to inquire, “The world’s so dangerous, I’m tempted to leave.”

“Honorable Lords, I’ll take that as a no. It would be better for you not to do anything that would bring the House of Lords into disrepute.” Alan Wilson was cold and his tone was a bit indifferent, “Specifically on this matter, if it wasn’t this time of the year, we could provide every support except help. But not now!”

The mascot of the House of Lords was not privy to the inner workings of the government, but Mountbatten had known about Cuba, or he would not have agreed to his daughter’s taking Edwina away in the name of her mother’s convalescence.

“Marshal, perhaps a program to rescue India should be worked out. We’ll talk later.” Alan Wilson lifted his wrist to reveal a plain, unassuming Patek Philippe; it was almost time to board the plane, and the terminal was not a good place to talk about it.

Pamela Mountbatten looked after the children, looking relaxed, but in her eyes just pretending to be relaxed her husband had a look of dismay in his eyes, and when the time came Pamela Mountbatten called out to her husband for a parting hug.

The scene made Edwina and the Patricias laugh, and even then, Pamela Mountbatten still didn’t care and waited where she was with arms akimbo until Allen Wilson approached, and she hugged her man and whispered in his ear, “Are you really not going to come with me?”

“What de Gaulle behavior?” Alan Wilson replied in a low voice as he moved his hand down his wife’s back and gave Pamela Mountbatten a gentle pat on the buttocks, “Do what I tell you, it’s a good one.”

Pamela Mountbatten smiled, she wasn’t an unforgettable stunner but at the moment smiled brightly all the same and nodded vigorously, “I’ll start when I get to the place.”

In the hold for a moment is not a few onlookers, Allen Wilson let go of his wife’s body, the two like a fortune cat waving at, Pamela Mountbatten with the child into the passage.

Allen Wilson watched his wife’s figure disappear with a single movement that was as much surface work as it was instinct. If he couldn’t do that, how could he make a living in front of so many movie queens?

It was only at this time that Allen Wilson lifted the state of his wife-watching stone and rubbed his car to go directly to the Mountbatten house. Driving the car was Patricia, still snickering about the scene just now, “You two are so affectionate.”

To the serious sister-in-law’s flirtation, Alan Wilson did not feel embarrassed at all, “Marriage needs to be run by both husband and wife with care.”

London pedestrians still do what they should do, simply do not know the truth of this world, this kind of ignorance may also be a kind of happiness, Allen Wilson then took half a day off to come over to send the family members on the plane, but also did not forget to take the opportunity to discuss with Mountbatten how to take the fire in the heat of this time.

The vast majority of people in this world, have no idea that there are two conflicts brewing, but as a know-it-all, Alan Wilson had to make his father-in-law’s attitude clear, “How ignorant people are, about nothing.”

“Alan, where do you think India’s forward policy will lead.” Mountbatten inquired, “Now that you’ve gotten the inside track, I’m sure you have a way to deal with it.”

Consequences? Alan Wilson said to himself, “Of course it’s to be punched in the face, the prestige built up since Independence melting away like ice and snow, goodbye to all the Third World leaders, allies of the Non-Aligned Movement.

“The matter must be mixed up, not for India’s sake, but as an opportunity to show off British influence.” As Alan Wilson spoke, he really wanted to ask how much of Britain’s leftover World War II rags were left, and if there weren’t many, it would be fine to make do with Lee-Enfield rifles older than his father, and India wasn’t picky about it anyway, they were still in service in the twenty-first century.

“You don’t seem to approve of India’s fighting ability.” Mountbatten could see his son-in-law’s lack of words.

“No!” Allen Wilson, who was well versed in the ways of two-faced people, denied it, but felt sorry for his conscience, he was really not able to open his eyes on the Indian issue, adding, “For thousands of years, the Indian army’s most combatant when it was called the British Indian Legion. The last time it made its mark in history can be traced back to the days of Alexander the Great.”

“That question is not important, Marshal. The point is that this is an opportunity to boost British influence. If it’s the Soviets with some forward policy, it’s a horrible sight to think about, but the Indians doing it? We still have to be prepared for an Indian defeat and then have the luxury of hoping for a miracle.”

“But if the miracle doesn’t happen, it’s time to think about how to maximize British interests. That requires a good attitude on the part of the Ministry of Defense, which I certainly don’t think is a problem for the Honorable Secretary of Defense, Mr. Profumo.”

Ever since Profumo had been caught in the middle of the Soviet spy case, he had been completely controlled by Alan Wilson, just as the Prime Minister had controlled Emperor Xian of Han.

At this time, the world is like the calm before the storm, there are two conflicts that are powerful enough to shake the world are brewing, the Cuban Missile Crisis that shook the first and second worlds, and the duel at the top of the Himalayas that shook the third world.

And people around the world are still ignorant of this, and they are even less aware that there are ambitious people who still have to rub their noses in such a dangerous event.