Chapter 1381 – The Future is in Your Hands

Britain doesn’t even have formed army units on the mainland, so where will we draw troops from if we send more troops to Europe? It’s either the Far East or the Middle East, and after that? Let the U.S. establish the petrodollar!

Bretton Woods system in the case, Britain can still rely on the earlier imperial preferential system and the United States, really become a petrodollar, is only to be cut leek countries later also include Britain.

The calculator is loud and clear, in Alan Wilson’s opinion, now the United States is not likely to have been looking for the Bretton Woods system collapsed, the dollar in the end and what is linked.

“Maria, does the Prime Minister have a moment? I have something to report!” Allen Wilson took the microphone and placed the call to the Prime Minister’s political secretary, “Yes, thank you.”

Putting down the microphone, Alan Wilson got up straight away and went to 10 Downing Street to find out what Kissinger, the presidential envoy, had actually said.

“Pretty much what you said, wants Britain to stand with the U.S. and also wants us to upgrade our presence in Germany, Kissinger says Washington is now interested in an armistice as well and would be happy to see Britain play a key role.” Harold Wilson was obviously still quite pleased to be able to call an armistice, and was a little flustered by the high hat Kissinger was wearing over him.

Alan Wilson frowned slightly, dismissing the Prime Minister’s optimism, and asked directly in return, “Is the United States ready to lose South Vietnam? Ready to have its influence weakened after defeat? If the U.S. can’t keep South Vietnam in existence, why do many neutral countries believe that the idea of freedom they hold on to is worth defending? Perhaps it is the Soviet idea that is thought to be the future of mankind.”

The U.S. could choose when the war would start, and in fact could theoretically choose when it would end, but as the military power that had been molded to be the world’s number one military power, if it ended in a crushing defeat, it could be more than just a matter of the number one military power’s hat being changed, and in fact, from the time of its defeat in the Vietnam War, the international community did tacitly agree that the USSR was the world’s number one military power.

Accompanied by various aspects of the Soviet Union’s industrial field indicators successively reached the world’s first, the free world appeared unprecedented frustration, this is all true.

The United States has been in Vietnam to insist, hope that South Vietnam retained the reason, but also hope to avoid this future occurs, the Vietnam War defeat the United States is not only lost a South Vietnam, in fact, the bombing of the North is quite extensive, but also involved the neighboring countries of Cambodia and Laos, the United States defeat a one-time loss of control of the three countries.

U.S. influence can be retreated to the Thai border to stabilize the position, the Soviet Union took the opportunity to launch a global offensive, the United States in a long time are to take an evasive attitude, not and the Soviet Union direct confrontation.

In fact, oil and the dollar peg just started but could not stabilize the value of the dollar, but also related to the United States lost the position of the world’s first military power. If you can’t fight, why can you protect me?

It’s not the first time this has happened and it won’t be the last, not to mention the Soviet Union’s global offense, the US performed a Kabul trapeze and Russia didn’t do it right away. Russia was trapped by the Hezbollah hit, and NATO didn’t send in troops, because once the US did, it completely pressed the other regional vassals.

“The Soviet Union was also hoping for an early end to the Vietnam War.” Harold Wilson said uncertainly, “Kosygin had expressed this idea several times.”

“The political structure of the Soviet Union is such that the person who says what counts is not Kosygin, the chairman of the Council of Ministers, but Brezhnev.”

Alan Wilson seriously reminded, “Anything that Brezhnev doesn’t make a visible effort to do can be judged as pending. If I were in Brezhnev’s position, I’d be strongly in favor of reunifying the country under North Vietnam and sending the Americans packing in their dust, not a so-called graceful retreat.”

“Of course, the Vietnam War has nothing to do with Britain, Malaya is fairly stable at the moment, and with Thailand secure, the West Malaysian Peninsula will not be a threat. And East Malaysia is an island where the Royal Pacific Fleet is sufficient to repel any threat coming in from the sea. But being in Britain’s shoes, we have to prepare for the next response. With the formation of the Republic of Kalimantan two years ago, the Netherlands left a military base behind to still have a joint defense with the British forces in Malaya, while preserving their economic interests. Sort of a contribution to maintaining stability in the East Indies.”

“The situation in the Far East is indeed worrisome, and the local British troops really can’t be evacuated.” Harold Wilson nodded in agreement with this view.

“The Middle East, on the other hand, is even more important; if we withdraw our troops from the Middle East, the Arab countries will almost certainly fall to the Soviet Union. If it is accompanied by a U.S. defeat in Southeast Asia.” Alan Wilson told the Prime Minister in a pessimistic tone, “And we have to consider the possibility.”

“What possibility?” Harold Wilson looked at the head of the civil service in front of him with a start, how was today’s conversation filled with dumb questions and speculation?

“Honorable Prime Minister, I certainly do not believe, as some Tory sources have suggested, that you are a Soviet spy. But for the next conversation, can we keep it a secret?” Alan Wilson solemnly said.

“Of course!” Harold Wilson replied dryly, then asked rhetorically, “There are also voices in Whitehall that think I have an ambiguous relationship with the Soviet Union?”

“There’s always discussion when there’s a lot of whispers. Tory sources always say that, and there’s nothing we can do about it. But I’m strictly curbing the emergence of such discussions.” Alan Wilson made a solemn promise to never mention that the source of the discussion in Whitehall also included him as Cabinet Secretary.

“The disintegration of the Bretton Woods system is close at hand, and the problem facing the dollar on the currency is that the over-issuance of so many dollars, once the influx into the United States domestic. Will directly let the United States into the middle of inflation, now the international market of the dollar at least four or five hundred billion scale, by virtue of the United States is unable to take over.”

Alan Wilson said this paused for a moment, “Washington must want to find a thing to bind the value of the dollar, what is the most important to the modern society, and countries can not get away from it? Oil!”

“Oil!” Harold Wilson chimed in, “But there are only two countries in the Middle East that the US has a base in, Saudi Arabia and Iran.”

“That’s right, and with the Arab states generally opposed to Israel, and Britain having a bias in favor of the Arab states on the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, Britain is in a sense an obstacle to the United States. The fact is that the Iranian crisis would not have ended up with us backing down if it had not been for the U.S. factor, and if the U.S. wanted to tie up the oil, it would have found a way to cannibalize our interests in the Persian Gulf, and the most intuitive and easiest way to do that would have been to get rid of our military presence in the Persian Gulf in the first place. As soon as our military presence there disappears, many of the collateral benefits will also disappear, which is what Whitehall has been avoiding.”

Alan Wilson shrugged, “The military is also quite willing to beef up its forces in Germany, and while we’re facing Soviet armor directly, that can’t be predicated on evacuating the garrisons in the Middle and Far East.”

“That sounds like a strong possibility of happening.” Harold Wilson was lost in long thought, “It would be detrimental to British interests.”

“Uh-huh, high opinion of the Prime Minister.” Alan Wilson lightly grunted, things are very obvious, the Bretton Woods system Europe including Britain still has the ability to resist, once into the petrodollar rhythm, Britain is also in the realm of containment, there is no doubt that Britain are unable to keep the current interests.

Today’s discussion, especially the currency and oil discussion, is limited to private discussions between the Cabinet Secretary and the Prime Minister, Harold Wilson also guaranteed that only the two of them know, will not be passed on.

The direction of the Vietnam War was not really important to Britain; according to the Soviet camp, it was progress and regression, truth and fallacy, light and darkness fighting, the proletarian giant against the bourgeois monster! There was a civil war in Vietnam. Everywhere there was organized agitation, led pitched battles, orderly chaos. The revolution of the proletariat is one that often criticizes itself.

One victory at a time; one repetition at a time. Taking things that seem to have been accomplished, one at a time, and doing them all over again, each time with a new improvement. It searches for its own weaknesses, shortcomings, and mistakes without mercy.

Britain, a bourgeois country full of brass tacks, might as well stop caring about great ideals and just think pragmatically about not falling into the American trap. If the Bretton Woods system is a system in which the dollar is the dominant currency and the pound is the secondary currency, then at least in the next system, the pound can’t be that either, and so on.

Harold Wilson at least one thing is clear, the United States in this dollar crisis, almost certainly will default, once the default will mark the end of the Bretton Woods system, not to mention the United Kingdom is also a member of the gold squeeze, even if it is not, the United Kingdom can not be saved.

“So what do we do at the moment?” Harold Wilson whispered, as if in the middle of a dilemma.

“Buy time for the run on Europe. There’s nothing else to do.” Alan Wilson did not even think about it, “Appropriate to make the appearance of interference is no problem, as long as do not really interfere. After all, we can not stop the European bankers, I believe that this time after the dollar crisis, Nixon will be ready to talk. At least count on giving the other countries an explanation.”

What about even a funeral for Bretton Woods, the sense of ceremony is still necessary. As for Britain, it’s time to think about the next round of open fire from the US.

After Kissinger got the promise to leave, Harold Wilson very much kept his word and made a currency speech in the House of Commons, saying that the financial mess had caused the government’s concern.

“The Prime Minister was only joking, your friends should act as they should.” Alan Wilson explained as he turned off the TV straight away and put his arm around Pamela Mountbatten.

Believe the prime minister or believe the cabinet secretary, how simple choice question, of course, the latter, at least the latter will not lie again in the House of Commons.