Chapter 1470 – Mediterranean Sea Confrontation

“The British can be difficult to deal with, especially now.” Kissinger wanted to say something, just as Rockefeller had said, the current United States did not seem to have as much prestige in front of the allies as it used to because of its gray withdrawal from Southeast Asia.

Among some countries, the statement that the Cold War might last forever, or even that the United States would be the losing side, was no longer a speech taboo.

The anti-war wave within the United States now leads to a great distrust of the government among its citizens, and the United States cannot afford to make other countries cooperate unconditionally from a position of strength.

Anyone else might have set out with confidence, but Kissinger happens to be a realist, and he is not even thinking now about how exactly he can get Britain to help. Britain is a supporter of some Arab countries, there are oil interests, arms trade and international influence considerations, this is not something that the United States said a word and Britain recruited to do.

“What is in the national interest is not necessarily in the personal interest, who does not like money.” Rockefeller waved his hand and said, “If the oil skyrocketed, is there no benefit to the Mountbatten Oil Company?”

At this present time, the United States and the Soviet Union are still competing for strategic airlift to support their allies, while the Mediterranean Sea is equally saber rattling, almost every day there are Soviet missile destroyers and submarines, through the Dardanelles Strait into the Mediterranean Sea, to increase the strength of the Soviet Union’s Red Navy, while the other protagonist the U.S. Navy, after the addition of a carrier battle group, has deployed three carrier battle groups in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.

Never before in recorded history had the Eastern Mediterranean been so crowded, and as time passed, the strength of the two opposing sides not only did not diminish in any way, but increased.

The Soviet Ministry of Defense announced to the public that it would conduct grand naval military exercises to deter the three U.S. carrier battle groups in the Mediterranean.

With the two fleets facing each other in such a small Mediterranean Sea, war could be triggered at any time due to three scenarios. First, the Soviet Union could intervene as a result of an Israeli attack; second, the Soviet Union could intervene to force a cease-fire between the Arab and Israeli belligerents; and third, the U.S. and Soviet navies in the standoff could “exchange gunfire”.

Brussels, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization headquarters, the British military because of the Middle East war affecting the United States in Europe, the military expressed opposition to the two countries could not reach a consensus on the Middle East issue.

“The Secretary of State for Defense has rejected the proposal to have the U.S. Navy dock in Cyprus.” Makins came to the Cabinet Secretary’s office and reported to Alan Wilson, “Is this it?”

“Is what? Every day that passes, new warships arrive from both sides, and the standoff alone is now far larger than the Bay of Bengal standoff during the Indo-Pakistani War. I can’t even imagine what the Eastern Mediterranean will look like in a few more days.”

Alan Wilson shook his head and said, “At a time like this, Britain should avoid getting involved, there is no problem with refusing to open up Cyprus to the US Navy, doesn’t the US have a naval base in Crete, and this so-called communication of going into Cyprus is an attempt to pull Britain down, and we mustn’t fall for it.”

It’s not like the US doesn’t have a naval base to use, how much farther can Crete be than Cyprus? There simply won’t be this issue of so-called ease of resupply, and there is no doubt that this is the US trying to pull the UK out as a gun, and the Cabinet’s rebuff is very correct.

It’s not that I, Great Britain, don’t dare to confront the Soviet Union, the point is that the Royal Mediterranean Fleet is now an empty shell, and who’s to blame? It is not the Americans who said that the Soviet Union was conducting military exercises in Hokkaido and hoped that Britain could help from the point of view of the special relationship between Britain and the U.S.A. Is it wrong for Britain to help?

Of course, from the American point of view, things are not like this, let the Royal Navy to the Far East, either windy or rain, as the green train stops at every station, do not know that you think it is going to the moon.

As a result of the war in the Middle East, the speed of the British fleet to the Far East has come up.

In Yokosuka and overhaul and replenishment of fuel, as if the first time to see the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean, there is no intention to return to the Mediterranean Sea.

“Who on earth was it that then inquired of London that Britain should properly side with the United States in the Far East?” Nixon, reeling from the Watergate scandal, asked the military leaders of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in exasperation if the U.S. Navy couldn’t even handle a single Soviet fleet.

The response to Nixon was breathless silence, and from the current standoff in the Mediterranean, that’s really pretty much it.

The Mediterranean is not much larger than the Bay of Bengal, let alone the Eastern Mediterranean. The one million square kilometers now contain three U.S. carrier battle groups and a much larger number of Soviet guided missile destroyers.

Compared to the vast expanse of the ocean, the Mediterranean is at best a bathtub that has been nearly filled by the navies of two of the world’s most powerful nations.

This is not a comfort zone for the U.S. Navy’s fleet, but on the contrary, it suits the Soviet Red Navy’s play, and nearly every U.S. Navy ship is being targeted by Soviet anti-ship missiles.

To neutralize the threat of Soviet anti-ship missiles, the U.S. carrier fleet would either have to destroy all fire-control radars, missiles, and guns on the Soviet ships, or sink all Soviet ships within range before the missiles hit their own decks.

The commander of the Soviet Fifth Fleet, on the other hand, was prepared to sink as many carriers as possible before the American fighter ships could retaliate. In other words, the Soviets had no intention of surviving the engagement to begin with; their mission was simply to fire their missiles before sinking.

But it was true that the situation in the Far East was a bit more critical at the time, and in fact after the outbreak of the war in the Middle East, the Pentagon still believed that getting the Royal Navy’s Mediterranean fleet to the Far East was the right decision.

This was because Britain, as a potential supporter on the Egyptian side, could reassure Israel to attack boldly if the main fleet was not in the Mediterranean.

Who can not see the future, how can anticipate today’s situation, and ultimately the Pentagon has decided to dump, even if the British Mediterranean fleet is there, run into the Soviet Red Navy does not necessarily dare to confront, the old imperialist countries can be slippery it.

“The Israeli side, after all, still beat off the Egyptian armored forces, perhaps the West Bank offensive will have an unexpected effect.”

But is it that simple, in fact Britain was much more attached to supporting Jordan than Egypt, which aspired to be the leader of the Arab world and was too close to Israel to be an easy victim of an Israeli sneak attack. It’s not like Alan Wilson could get inside the Israelis’ heads and erase the option of a sneak attack.

After the Suez Canal was recovered, the relationship between Egypt and Britain was already considered to be sort of equal and friendly, as long as shipping through the Suez Canal was not threatened. Britain is not going to support Egypt, and the relationship between Britain and Jordan is obviously much hotter than that between Britain and Egypt, and the military relationship is much closer, with Britain’s military sales to Jordan being accompanied by a land navigation component in addition to tanks.

Because the Old City of Jerusalem is dotted with historic buildings and is a holy site for all three religions, neither the Jordanian nor the Israeli military wanted to take the blame for destroying the holy sites, and shelling and bombing of the urban areas was strictly forbidden.

Israeli paratroopers, backed by tanks, entered Jerusalem and were immediately met with a stubborn counterattack by the Jordanian army. Jordan had been close to Britain after independence, and the army, trained by British instructors, fought with vigor. Jordanian soldiers placed booby-trapped mines in the buildings of the Old City to keep Israeli paratroopers from burrowing into their bunkers, while they themselves took advantage of the favorable terrain to cover the streets with firepower, inflicting heavy casualties on the Israeli army.

If there is anything that Israel has learned in the midst of the war this time around, it is to be shocked at the Arab side’s unconcerned use of civilian facilities to resist, and in the battles in the West Bank, the Jordanian land and air force did not care one bit about civilian casualties, making Israel feel as if it was the one defending the country, not the one attacking.

London, the grand Commonwealth Film Festival, became an unparalleled bright spot in this chaotic world, Ellen Wilson was seated in the ceremony as a family member of the female president.

“Do you usually put on such a smelly face in Whitehall? So many handsome men and women aren’t enough to lighten your mood?” Pamela Mountbatten cocked her head and snickered at her husband, her eyes sweeping over the various stars on the red carpet.

“Kissinger is visiting London soon and we’re preparing to deal with the old fox. I wonder if he’ll be up to his old tricks of making cards out of thin air.” Alan Wilson replied in a serious manner, his words expressing a fistful of patriotism, “You know, the Egyptian armored forces have suffered great losses, and we’re still talking about arms sales. Don’t mention it, just mentioning it makes me angry.”

Once again, the Supreme Authority thought of the results of the Sheikh’s failure to beat Patton, which had to come up with a plausible reason, not to say that the quality of the Egyptian soldiers was not up to snuff, although that was true.

But so say some too arrogant, may have to be in the role of land and air more mouth, good in the field of land and air is not cut military spending is not the hardest hit, he also specializes in writing the Apache, does not exist by the United States of America neck neck possibility.

So can it be reversed Britain with armed helicopters to card the United States neck? The United States is still stronger than the United Kingdom, the United Kingdom does not have the ability to start from a position of strength.

“Oh? Got it, a big deal indeed, what do you think Taylor?” Pamela Mountbatten glanced at Elizabeth Taylor, who had just walked past, and asked rhetorically with interest.

“Not as good as my favorite Ms. Pamela Mountbatten.” Alan Wilson answered with a firm hand, then muttered, “Some foreign stars would be a nice addition to the festival.”

The night is silent, the Foreign Minister who greets Kissinger has an awkward conversation with Alan Wilson, “If we’re allowed to cooperate, we’ll have to get past France.”

“That’s right Minister, as for, some unreasonable demands, we’ll refuse on the grounds of defense of the Baltic Fleet.”

Alan Wilson nodded, “The subject of arms sales is not under discussion. For neither the United States nor the Soviet Union are on neutral ground, as the Mediterranean proves at this time.”

In the course of another day, it is no surprise that the confronting American and Soviet fleets must have gotten another boost in strength.