Chapter 471 The Arms Race

Audrey Hepburn said at the flash of longing in Alan Wilson’s eyes, “You’re a good lecturer, and you seem to take special pleasure in telling anecdotes from the author’s life.”

“Every literary person and that period of history is alive and well.” Alan Wilson looked away, “Every short poem every piece is a little autobiography, that’s the beauty of literature.”

Audrey Hepburn cocked her head and faced his gaze, “That’s a wonderful thing to say! Very insightful!”

Alan Wilson laughed, “I’m quoting someone else, but when are you going to show me your artistic life?”

“Why? Do you want to see me clearly, or do you want me to see you clearly?” There was provocation in her tone.

Audrey Hepburn responded quickly, feeling extremely energized by talking to her. She laughed, “Just don’t always stare at my face when you’re showing off.” Before he could reply, she added. But turning abruptly and visibly blushing, she stomped up a flight of stone steps and said bye without looking back at him.

Alan Wilson had his hands in his pockets, but his head was high. The sun was beginning to swirl out behind thin clouds. He closed his eyes, and all that was there in the golden blossom was Hepburn’s smile.

“Why can’t I help myself, always thinking of these stumbling blocks on the road to success?” Strongly calming his spirit, the British Empire still needs him now, but still can not help but follow Audrey Hepburn’s back, he said he would send Hepburn home.

Candlelight dinner plan although temporarily postponed, first find a restaurant for some preview is also possible, while the iron is hot. The two men entered the dining room and found a place to sit; Alan Wilson pointed with one index finger to a table to sit at.

Hepburn was radiantly discerning, and smiled a touching smile; Allen Wilson was solemnly shut up, and his eyes were faintly coy and amused. This table in the corner of the dining room had the connotation of privilege, as if it were only for the great and the good.

This hypnotic atmosphere pleased Hepburn’s heart, and the waiter, in the long cowhide pants of an American western rancher, was lean and full of deferential pieties.

“I’ll stop asking you about your job, maybe you’ll just disappear sometime like you did last time.” Hepburn guffawed, “The world is so big, I wouldn’t know where to find you.”

“I’ve got some freshwater dolphins in Malaya!” Alan Wilson sighed, “Haven’t been to see them yet though.”

“What’s Malaya? Is it where the blacks live?” Hepburn had a confused head, “What is the local culture like.”

“There are two main groups of people living there, and to say the most obvious culture is that the local men are able to take many wives.” Alan Wilson said this with an apologetic smile, “I’m sorry, men focus on these things.”

“Do you want to take many wives as well? I could tell right away.” Hepburn sneered a little, “I didn’t think you’d think that, I would have thought you’d be special.”

“If most men think that way, and I’m not, doesn’t that mean there’s something wrong with me as a person?” Alan Wilson said with a bitter smile full of helplessness, “Let’s not talk about this issue, Audrey, let’s solve the problem of eating first.”

After eating, Hepburn walked towards home. She walked quickly, but not excessively; she walked with ease, with her head held high, and with an air of that woman’s ceremonial poise which comes from knowing that one has a shapely figure, and thus wishing, but not fearing, that one should distinguish her from others. Yet underneath that easy-going exterior, she kept her eyes on the man following behind her.

Until standing in front of the house, Hepburn turned to Alan Wilson, who usually followed, and bowed his head slightly to express his gratitude.

Allen Wilson slightly forehead, watched Hepburn open the door and enter, then stood in the doorway for a while to himself, before returning the same way.

“Mother!” Hepburn, who watched Allen Wilson leave along the cat’s eye, turned around and whispered, “Allen seems to be very apprehensive, I don’t know what’s going on, but I can feel it.”

The next day at the Foreign Ministry building, all the colonial commissioners not only did not have the slightest fatigue, but were in high spirits. Those who didn’t know thought that they had encountered the three great joys of life, but for their commissioner status, this was more joyful than anything else.

I don’t know if when they went back to sleep, they dreamed of the dawn of riches, but all in all, after a day of meetings, all of them didn’t feel tired and were filled with vigor.

The relaxed mood was contagious, even if the topic of the day was, in fact, not exactly relaxing.

Maintaining contact with overseas territories essentially depended on the Suez Canal; after all, all of the current colonies, except for Nigeria, which was surrounded by French Africa, had to be contacted by the Suez Canal.

In essence, in fact, the Suez Canal War broke out inexplicably, Nasser in fact, even if the recovery of the Suez Canal, it will not cause any economic loss to Britain, but only to the Suez Canal privileges are gone.

I do not know how the prime minister at that time suddenly in his heart, it surged the glory of the British Empire, had to take Egypt to make an example of the chicken, and as a result, he became a chicken that was killed by the United States and the Soviet Union to sacrifice the flag.

“We still have places in our hands that are missed by the Americans, that is, the Suez Canal and the Strait of Malacca. There are currently the Netherlands and France near the Malacca Strait, so for the time being there is nothing to worry about. But near the Suez Canal we are no longer in full control of the situation, Greece and Turkey, the influence of the British Empire has been replaced by the United States. And by the Suez Canal, there is also an Israel that was only founded with the support of the United States.”

“Currently our plans are based on the fact that the Suez Canal is still open.” Alan Wilson frowned, “What if one day, the United States, whose strength has surpassed that of the Royal Navy, pressurizes us to give up control of the canal? Do we have a record of that?”

In fact, to stop Prime Minister Aiden from being a jerk, Alan Wilson had a way, as long as Aiden lost the election and couldn’t become Prime Minister.

Aiden had a routine gallstone operation that he didn’t realize would become the turning point of his life. The doctors, due to a mistake, cut off his bile ducts, and in order to stop the excruciating pain, the doctors used a new potent drug, amphetamines, which later generations used to call methamphetamine. The drug is not only highly addictive, but also makes people lose their minds. Of course, this matter was kept strictly confidential, and two years later, Aiden successfully became the British Prime Minister.

If Aiden became addicted, it would just be a matter of leaking the news when Aiden was running for office. The idea of being happy and done with it wasn’t a thing in Britain in this day and age, and the general public could be forgiven for thinking that the Prime Minister could never win an election if he caught the bug.

But what if Aidan is fine and wins the election anyway? It would be a very big problem to start thinking that the British Empire was okay again and have to shake a little bit of imperialism.

Sir Barron, the old boss, is now the commissioner of the Persian Gulf, and actually knows all about the problems of the Suez Canal. The Suez Canal, the throat of the Mediterranean Sea, the lifeline of the British Empire, the main international shipping channel connecting the three continents of Europe, Asia and Africa, one of the most important waterways in the world.

Once something happens to the Suez Canal, for Britain, the control of the entire colony will be greatly reduced. With the exception of Nigeria, which would not be affected, the existing colonies would be affected.

Whether it was the Persian Gulf, Malaya, or the major colonies in British Africa, the shock would be felt.

“Alan’s fears are very valid, and indeed the Foreign Secretary is very worried, the importance of the Suez Canal to the British Empire cannot be overstated. The relevant preparations cannot be overstated.” Norman Brooke also looked visibly solemn when he heard this, “It’s not as if there aren’t calls for Egypt to get rid of Britain, and once something goes wrong here, everything that was talked about yesterday is just an empty dream.”

Don’t be an empty dream! Many of the colonial commissioners were so happy that they could not sleep, and it became an empty dream at today’s meeting?

In order to be able to not have empty dreams, many colonial officials expressed their opinions and proposed ways to strengthen the supervision of the Suez Yun Canal.

“I also have an idea, but it may be politically incorrect to say it, because it is necessary to use the Jews as a handle.” Alan Wilson spoke with some hesitation, “Egypt, as well as the Middle Eastern countries, there is one thing that is similar to the United Kingdom, that is, the local monarch’s thinking is still strong, in fact, from the country’s attributes, it should become an ally of the United Kingdom.”

“This is of course, and the Arab world is a vast area that no country would be too offended by, not even the United States.” Sir Ismay nodded his head in recognition, “This Palestinian-Israeli war is proof of that, neither the US nor the Soviet Union are willing to offend the La’ab world too much.”

“But the U.S. ended up sending troops!” Alan Wilson laughed and spoke, “Do we recall that speech that Senator Churchill gave in the United States after he lost the election?”

“Of course!” The colonial commissioners, including Sir Barron, all leaned back in one accord and waited for Alan Wilson’s next words.

“Senator Churchill’s idea was to have an all-encompassing confrontation involving politics, military, and diplomacy, but not to actually fight a war, but to drag the opponent down. Prime Minister Adderley, on the other hand, thought it would be bad for Britain. In fact it is also very unfavorable, the United States is separated by an Atlantic Ocean, the one who pays the price of a real confrontation is us, even if we pay an equal price, the United States still has the spare capacity to lay hands on our colonies, but we do not have the spare capacity to protect those territories.”

Speaking of this Alan Wilson suddenly changed his words and said, “The confrontation must wait until the homeland is not affected before it begins. But if not in Europe? Not that a similar operation couldn’t be used? Wouldn’t it change the situation a bit if we mediated, gathered all the Arab monarchies, launched a blockade and arms race against Israel, and then put the Sultan of Egypt in the position of an ally.”

Alan Wilson’s point was that the Cold War could start in the Middle East, and the time was just right. Britain could export military equipment and lend Arab power to deflect the conflict.