Chapter 714 – Mountbatten and Li Qiwei

After the coronation, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip waved to the cheering public.

As night fell, the Queen appeared in public with her mother, husband and two children. Later in the evening, Elizabeth flipped the switch and the lights illuminated the old city, with the fountain in Trafalgar Square taking on an otherworldly glow. There was a renewed and intense sense of being one family for all.

The rest of the time belonged to individuals, and while the citizens of Britain talked about the coronation during the day, Buckingham Palace, where invited socialites and elites from all walks of life, were invited to come and attend the royal meet.

This kind of an unparalleled occasion, the Queen and her husband and wife, of course, just showed up, but enough to highlight the importance of the royal family to all sectors of society, Alan Wilson vigilantly looked at his sister-in-law.

He was in two minds here, as Vivien Leigh was also here as a representative of show business, which wasn’t really a big problem. The problem was that the invitation list also included her ex-husband, Laurence Olivier, and before Vivien Leigh, Gloria Garson, the representative of British actresses, and Gloria Garson’s uncle into show business, Laurence Olivier.

Although not worried about what was happening under the audience in the hall, Alan Wilson couldn’t help but stare over there.

Eventually he squeezed through with his wife and introduced Pamela Mountbatten, “Ms. Vivien Leigh, who helped the Viceroy’s Office a great deal during the time of British India, and who, with her kindness and love, defused a great deal of Hindu hatred towards the Viceroy’s Office.”

“Rather I have heard of that!” Pamela Mountbatten, with a face of admiration, rushed at Vivienne good-naturedly, “Senator Churchill said that you are a national treasure of the British Empire, and this appearance is really enviable.”

“Not everyone is envious either.” Vivien Leigh’s eyes rippled with light, sweeping over Pamela Mountbatten’s and Alan Wilson’s faces without pausing, why this man came over, she knew in her heart, it was because her ex-husband was here.

It was all right to describe it as jealousy and possessiveness, and Vivienne didn’t reject the feeling, greeting them with a smile, the threesome turned straight into a five-person open group, chatting away.

“It’s hard to imagine that Gloria Garson is still so young.” After the Buckingham Palace session, Pamela Mountbatten drove home, exclaiming to her husband in the passenger seat.

“Indeed, it’s amazing. There’s just one kind of person in this world who, even in old age, can look as magnificent as she did in her youth.” Alan Wilson nodded in agreement with his wife.

Of course it wasn’t like he hadn’t seen similar people before, Greta Garbo was the same type as Gloria Garson. The silent movie era was clearly in her early twenties and was able to play roles in her thirties and forties. Now it’s true that at the age when the average woman ages, on the contrary, it doesn’t change much.

The difference is that at this age, the face of such a woman becomes a little more fierce and less soft than when she was young, and Allen Wilson feels that this may be the difference between natural and untouched.

“If it weren’t for the fact that Gloria Garson is twenty years older than you, I really doubt that my own husband would be able to hold his own.” Pamela Mountbatten joked.

“No way!” Alan Wilson cut through, really embarrassed to say, as long as it is pretty enough age is not a problem at all. Greta Garbo he didn’t let go.

It’s just that it’s not like when he was in British India that he couldn’t walk away from seeing a pretty female. This time to see the first great British treasure, but also just marveled are almost fifty people, but still can have such a state.

At this time to the route of the Comet airliner, has been the daytime coronation ceremony and parade video, transported to the countries to play, for the United Kingdom into the Elizabethan era of good publicity.

“By the Grace of God Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the other Territories and Dependencies, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Anglican Communion ******.” would be the head of the British Empire at this time!

If something hadn’t come up, Alan Wilson would have absolutely had to approach Vivienne the next day for some in-depth communication. But the Foreign Office did have something going on, and the problem lay with one of the visiting heads of state, King Farouk I of Egypt.

Before leaving Cairo, Farouk I said, without a practical solution, he will always live in London. Regardless of whether or not this was a false statement, it did move the Egyptian people to wait with baited breath for good news.

Tough words were put out, and by virtue of the importance of the Suez Canal to Britain, it now had the Foreign Office on its toes.

Prime Minister Adderley’s lifelong enemy in his party, Herbert Morrison, the current Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary, was at a loss for words with the oncoming king.

Back before World War II, British India and Egypt ranked among the top two colonial protectorates in British hands, and by today’s date, 1953, British India had become independent, and British India’s independence was now proving to be not without a substitute, with British Malaya shouldering part of the function.

But Egypt is not a good substitute, the Suez Canal alone cannot be replaced, the loss of the Suez Canal, not only the United Kingdom itself will be a problem, Britain’s influence on Europe will be greatly reduced, European countries need the Suez Canal, this canal is not exclusively for the United Kingdom itself.

And in the eyes of other nations, especially the United States and the Soviet Union, Farouk I, who had come to London with a purpose, would be the first major test after Queen Elizabeth’s coronation.

Alan Wilson could think of anything, and presumably both countries had the mindset of watching the joke to see exactly how Britain would handle this.

Arrived in Whitehall Allen Wilson, met the permanent undersecretary of the foreign ministry Sir Ismay, then the two went to see the foreign minister Herbert Morrison, Allen Wilson took the initiative to open his mouth, “Let me receive his majesty Farouk, I’ve seen him a few times, to the African colonial tour, in Cairo for a few days, it is considered to have a certain degree of personal friendship.”

“Are you sure of that?” Herbert Morrison and Sir Ismay both eyed Alan Wilson.

This kind of gaze, let Alan Wilson have a kind of imperial country rise and fall in this battle of the vestigial feeling, half a long time before answering, “It is too early to say this, Li Qiwei is now in the discussion with General Mountbatten, what I think is that General Li Qiwei returned to Paris, we are here is to communicate with Farouk I on the issue of the canal.”

If he could not communicate with Farouk I, there would be no one in the whole of England who could do the work, and at least he had contributed to the eradication of Nasser’s organization of free officers.

General Mountbatten was talking to Richmond about rearming Germany and Italy, and he wanted to make time for his father-in-law. This NATO Commander-in-Chief was always uncomfortable in London.

The first thing to do was to arrange an itinerary of receptions, excursions, operas and tours, by the time that set came down, Li Qiwei should have already left, and at that point in time the formal negotiations would begin to come up with a mutually acceptable solution.

After the two giants of the Foreign Office, Herbert Morrison and Sir Ismay’s consent, he took the itinerary to the hotel where Farouk I stayed, since the King of Egypt is a decent person, he has to give people a decent, absolutely out of respect for a country’s monarch arranged by the itinerary.

At the same time this meeting was also to pair up the script, ask about the real situation in Egypt now, and unilaterally clarify the bottom line of Egypt.

“Honorable King, welcome to your arrival in London with the hopes of all Egyptians, for your arrival, the whole of Britain is not happy, you have seen the parade of ships with your own eyes.” With great respect, Alan Wilson greeted Farouk I, who had just come out, while handing over the schedule of the other party.

Farouk I took the list and looked at it very carefully, which made Allen Wilson’s heart slander, was it unsatisfactory? Is it missing the golden waterfall?

“Commissioner Wilson, we are also old acquaintances, please sit down.” Farouk I received the itinerary, signaling Allen Wilson to sit down, the two face full on this visit to Britain to negotiate.

Almost at the same time, the commander of the Mediterranean Fleet of the British Empire, General Mountbatten, who is steadily moving towards the first Secretary of State for the Sea, also communicated with the current NATO Commander-in-Chief, Li Qiwei, on a major issue.

Li Qiwei is the commander-in-chief of NATO is correct, but Mountbatten in the wartime accumulated contacts played a role, he is the commander-in-chief is correct, Eisenhower is the President, Mountbatten with Washington’s relationship has never been a problem, because many of the military leaders there are his old comrades and old friends in wartime back then.

NATO also had such US military generals, Curtis LeMay, who torched Tokyo, was close to General Mountbatten, and even the researcher of the US nuclear submarine, Admiral Hyman Rickover, was a close friend of Mountbatten.

“Mark, in fact, the United Kingdom to maintain the current size of the force is very strained, the most embarrassing is, even if it is to maintain the current strength, facing the Soviet Union is still at a disadvantage.”

General Mountbatten called Li Qiwei by his nickname, “In fact, both Ike and I have an idea that Germany and Italy should be properly armed, just as you did in Japan, to help Japan establish a basic self-defense force, you can’t rely on the United States one-sidedly for everything, can you?”

Mountbatten knew from his son-in-law that the emergence of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces had involved a great deal of effort on the part of Lee Ki-mi, as well as the whole training of the Korean army, and it was from that perspective that he elaborated on the importance of Germany and Italy on the European side.

Now the problem is actually very simple, the United States, after all, separated by an Atlantic Ocean, Britain and France together is to be able to stabilize their own security, as for the containment of the Soviet Union, absolutely heart is not enough.

It’s only if Germany and Italy are added that NATO has a manpower advantage over the Soviet bloc.

“If Britain is really so sincere, I am willing to communicate on this.” Li Qiwei was overjoyed, in fact, this was also the idea of the United States, only he did not know that high-end hunters often appear as prey, and Mountbatten was such a military general.