Chapter 767 – True Counselor Wilson

“Allen, you’re here.” The two have already met several times, General Nawal has also received help from Malaya, when he saw Allen Wilson come in, General Nawal was not polite and addressed him directly by name.

“Came by to see what I could do to help, I thought maybe the French allies needed me at this time.” Allen Wilson sat down directly and elaborated on the purpose of this visit.

General Nawal’s vigor could not be compared to the previous meetings, so it was evident that the blow of the defeat at Dien Bien Phu was still great. Although it is not an exaggeration to talk about aging ten years old, it can still be seen that there is more than a hint of twilight.

It seemed that Nawal also felt that his own military career might be greatly affected, and had even been considered terminated.

The transfer order from France had not yet been issued, and General Navarre was still the Commander-in-Chief of the French Army at this time, still controlling the power here.

The two men exchanged a few pleasantries, and Navarre did not hide his current concerns, no matter how he lost the war, in addition to worrying about his future military career, he also worried about the fate of France.

Coincidentally, Alan Wilson is also worried, are colonial countries one honor and one loss, do not think that the defeat of the French army has nothing to do with the British army, if not for Thailand at the front, who says the next one is not British Malaya?

“Help?” General Nawal stared, then asked rhetorically with a bitter smile, “What can you, a British colonial officer, help with?”

“I’ve been through a similar evacuation operation a few years ago, and I was present throughout the retreat from British India to carry out similar work, so I think I can offer some experience when I come across something similar again.” Alan Wilson mentioned his experience of working in British India, and then in a turn of painting said, “Of course, some of the nails that were planted in British India in the first place were also partly cracked by Nehru, for example, the Hyderabad Satrapy no longer exists. The local Maharaja was a friend of mine, but fortunately, I still found a place for him to play in Malaya.”

Alan Wilson really wasn’t holding it against anyone when it came to this aspect of treating his friends, he felt he could act as an advocate for friendship, whether it was a feudal monarch like Ali Khan or a reactionary force like McCarthy, he had a clear conscience.

General Nawal froze, and at that moment Allen Wilson was glowing, as if he thought it a very honorable job. Was it possible that retreating from the colonies was now an honorable thing to do?

It was certainly, and for Allen Wilson it was the high point of his life.

“What favor can you do? Nothing more than borrowing the British shipping power that’s on its way.” General Navarre said in disbelief.

“There’s a lot to be said for withdrawing troops.” Alan Wilson said confidently, “Whether it’s out of solidarity between Britain and France, or the wider interests of the free world as a whole, it’s incumbent upon me. And have already received Whitehall’s approval to try to maintain the momentum of pro-Soviet armed expansion.”

General Navarre came to be interested at this point in hearing what the Englishman had in mind during the period of withdrawal.

“If Paris doesn’t mind, I’d suggest that before the French troops withdraw, they systematically destroy the areas within North Vietnam that they can still control and try to dismantle the power of this little Soviet brother. This will be good for the future stability of the neighboring countries, and while destruction won’t solve the problem permanently, it’s a sure-fire way to work for two or three years. As for specific methods, they include, but are not limited to, shooting down livestock in North Vietnam, which would affect agricultural production, and I don’t know if there are any iron mines found in North Vietnam, and if there are, I would recommend mined iron mines.”

Allen Wilson sprawling opening, as for blowing up factories, destroying electricity, looting artifacts and other basic operations, mentioning a mouthful will do, endless talk will appear that he, the commissioner, has no pattern and is very petty.

These operations, it is best to let the soldiers of the North African colonies to do, on the one hand, can avoid casualties of the French native soldiers, another aspect of these North African colonial soldiers, in the process of destroying the North Vietnam, which is also a colony, will be deeply aware of the French attitude towards the colonies, and return to North Africa may think twice before acting.

“Especially this doomed condemnation must be left to the colonial soldiers.” Alan Wilson particularly emphasized, “General Navarre, the French are not alone in their hands, as far as I know, the colonization of Algeria was also met with fierce resistance by the French army, and the collapse of the situation in Vietnam, if it spreads to the other colonies, it is likely to bring about a chain reaction.”

“It could even have a ripple effect on the British colonies.” General Navarre took a moment to point out that Allen Wilson’s scope was wrong.

“I do not deny that. But the proportion of ethnic groups in Malaya favors the British in their reconciliation efforts.” Allen Wilson narrowed his eyes, “This is after a layout that began in 1945, whereas France had only military operations after the war.”

General Navarre knew that Allen Wilson was telling the truth, France had quickly begun to re-take over the colonies after the war and had cracked down on the independent forces that had grown during the war, killing a hundred thousand people in the Madagascar landings alone. The suppression of the Algerian petition shot 50,000 people, and as for Vietnam it goes without saying.

France’s post-war attitude was notably tough, not at all comparable to the hesitancy with which the independence of British India was repeatedly discussed in London at the time, and it did stabilize the major colonies quickly.

“Perhaps there is still a chance for me to make a small contribution to France.” General Navarre was silent for a long time and expressed his approval quipping, “To be professional, you have been through a withdrawal before, you are indeed more professional.”

“We in Britain did not do anything similar in India, when British India suffered a drought, and did not have to do so.” Alan Wilson blamed it all on natural disasters.

In fact Allen Wilson understood very well that the idea he came up with had been similar to the Three Lights! Policy! But this kind of thing totally depends on the position, the enemy can call it this, our side this is called the scorched earth policy. If you still find it hard to hear, you can change it to a neutral word, like calling it the Firmament, or whatever else you want to call it.

General Navarre was noncommittal; he had endorsed the proposals, and the French were not much of a moral burden on that score. It was incumbent upon him to weaken the war potential of North Vietnam.

“If the British military advisors, before, had been as enthusiastic as you, Allen, perhaps we would have heard more military dissent.” General Navarre opened his mouth with the obvious intention that the arrival of the British military advisors was of little use.

“Their advisors are just a figure of fun, the real advisors still need me to come in person.” Allen Wilson had a good attitude and acted as if he hadn’t heard General Navarre’s sarcasm, “Has the VC released the French captured officers and men.”

“The releases are underway, and have been since the Geneva Conference.” General Navarre nodded, it wasn’t a secret, it went straight to Allen Wilson.

“That leaves no room for worry.” Allen Wilson was relieved to hear that, if the Viet Cong still held prisoners of war, the French would not necessarily dare to do so, “The operation was done under the banner that all modern facilities were brought by France on the line, and now recovered deservedly, independence which does not have to pay a price.”

Of course that wasn’t all, but that was all he could say to Navarre, after all, these French were better at it. As for the remaining part, Counselor Allen decided to do it himself.

Vietnam, especially the commercial town of Saigon, had many Chinese. These Chinese were mainly engaged in business and generally had a high social status as they acted as buyers in Vietnamese society during the colonization of Vietnam.

From the point of view of the Third World proletariat at large, it is natural that there is nothing to say that these Chinese businessmen were eventually purged. But Allen Wilson was a colonial commissioner who, though not French, had a natural affinity for these people.

These people’s family fortunes were confiscated after the reunification of Vietnam, and most of them who could afford to escape fled to the United States. This is why Vietnam, unlike many Southeast Asian countries, does not have any prominent Chinese entrepreneurs.

Unlike the false advisors of the advisory group, he, the real advisor, left the French command and immediately started to get into the swing of things, where was there such a genuine ally as him? He even felt that the French should offer him a commissioner’s salary, which could not be less than that offered by the Ten Sultans of Malaya.

At this moment, General Nawal was waiting for all the French prisoners to be released, and as soon as the release was complete he would begin to carry out, the operation of taking away all the things brought by France.

And the big Malayan buyers brought in by Allen Wilson had already found their way to the door, and were liaising with their Vietnamese counterparts of the same language and race, and in the meantime feeling out the business around Saigon.

“You tell your Saigonese counterparts that there is no need for trepidation and to keep their hearts in their stomachs.” Alan Wilson stood on the balcony of his French villa in Saigon and turned his back on several of the buyers he had brought with him, “The Geneva Conference was the result of a joint discussion among twenty-three nations, which of course doesn’t make it impossible to overrule, but the North Vietnamese Ha don’t have the power to do so. Saigon is in little danger for the time being; admittedly, the French are about to leave, but as long as there are no major changes in the political situation, their good times will not be affected.”

“Since Lord Zhongtang said so, I think they will be relieved as well.” Tian Qianqiu was relieved once he heard the Englishman with his back turned to the living beings pretending to be the beginningless emperor say so, “When we talked to the Chinese merchants here about the situation in the past few days, we could indeed feel the worry in their hearts.”

“There is no way for the Chinese merchants over in Hanoi to find a way to leave North Vietnam on their own if they can notify the channel.” Alan Wilson turned around and moved his neck, “There’s still some time left, by the time the French really start withdrawing from Hanoi, everything will be too late.”

Su Yang Tian Qianqiu several people nodded their heads, knowing the relationship between Allen Wilson and General Nawal, since he had said so, then time was really running out.