Chapter 801: Friends in the U.S. Military Community

It seems to be a small deviation, but it is the details of the problem often determines success or failure, looking at the newspaper, Alan Wilson can not help but in deducting the details, thinking about this little difference, may bring changes.

The original Cold War, Yugoslavia was at the intersection of the Warsaw Pact and NATO forces, neither joining the Warsaw Pact nor NATO, but maintaining neutrality and acting as a buffer zone role. At that time, the two major military blocs, the Warsaw Pact and NATO, both tried to draw Yugoslavia in, but neither could control Yugoslavia, so they had to maintain the status quo in Yugoslavia.

Yugoslavia also took advantage of the mutual restraint between the two military blocs to maintain relative peace during the Cold War and maximize its own interests.

The population of Yugoslavia was more than 10 million, and the population of Eastern European countries was generally small, so the pressure was not as great as expected. But there was also the issue of geography; Yugoslavia’s membership in the Warsaw Pact would have changed the situation of the Soviet bloc being blockaded.

From a complete blockade of the Warsaw Pact countries by the NATO countries to a dogged standoff situation. Not to say it’s 50/50 geographically, but NATO’s geographic blockade advantage isn’t so great anymore. The Soviet Union had a springboard south to the Mediterranean, North Africa, and the Middle East, which reflected the very important aspect of Yugoslavia’s strategic location.

Historically, Yugoslavia and Albania were successively at war with the Soviet Union, leading to the withdrawal of Soviet power from these two countries. The consequence was that the Soviet Union did not have the slightest place in the Mediterranean. The access to the Mediterranean was blocked by Greece and Turkey, which had joined NATO.

If these two countries now follow the Soviet Union with an iron fist, the Soviet Red Navy will have unimpeded access to the Mediterranean. This is definitely not a good thing for the free world. This is also especially true for Britain, because the current Mediterranean sea power is still controlled by Britain.

The Mediterranean Sea and the U.S. Sixth Fleet, the U.S. Navy into the Mediterranean Sea originated after the end of World War II, the entire period of World War II, the Mediterranean Sea, the main theme of the naval war, is the British fleet and the Italian fleet of the confrontation between the U.S. fleet, a large portion of the force into the Pacific theater of operations of the U.S. fleet, and did not enter the Straits of Gibraltar to the east.

Two months later, U.S. President Harry S. Truman sent the “Missouri” to escort the Turkish ambassador to the United States died in the U.S. Mounir Aitguen’s remains to return to the United States, the huge ships and cannons flaunted, the U.S. Navy stationed in the Eastern Mediterranean landmark event. The following year, the U.S. officially established a new Mediterranean sub-fleet in Trieste, an eastern Italian port.

Now the situation in the Mediterranean Sea is that the British Royal Navy and the U.S. Sixth Fleet are each in charge of one, such a situation. The British Mediterranean Fleet was headquartered in Cyprus, while the U.S. Sixth Fleet was based in Italy.

If the Soviets were to utilize the Yugoslavian ports, that would be within the Sixth Fleet’s scope of operations given the geographic location, and north of Cyprus, after all, there’s still Greece and Turkey on top. It looked slightly safer.

Didn’t the addition of Yugoslavia bring with it a labor force of ten million or so, along with Albania put together. The population of Eastern Europe was nowhere near that of Western Europe, but rather it changed what had been the geographical disadvantage of the Warsaw Pact.

Now when you look at the map of the confrontation between the Warsaw Pact and NATO, Turkey and Greece are just the edges cut off from the center of the entire Warsaw Pact, which can be a different view from the original history, where Yugoslavia was outside the Warsaw Pact.

“Hey, helping Mihajlovic and the others in the first place seems to be a mistake.” Alan Wilson couldn’t help but feel some regret in his heart, once again falling into the same mood as when he sent General Naval a few days ago.

But at that time there is no way, he is after all a Briton, always consider the interests of Britain first before considering the free world more broadly, at that time the light thought, attracting the attention of the United States, don’t put your eyes on the United Kingdom, which can still think so much?

“The United States has money, strengthen the Sixth Fleet will not be a problem.” Alan Wilson consoled himself, using brainstorming to find a method of spiritual victory, “Besides, Nehru’s strong support is doomed to be gone, now I see how to organize the Non-Aligned Movement?”

After half a day’s thought, Alan Wilson still found a good news, the original trio of the Non-Aligned Conference, Nehru, Tito and Nasser, one embraced the Warsaw Pact, and the other one was nowhere to be found, leaving Nehru to sing a solo act.

Yugoslavia does not join the Warsaw Pact, nor does it join NATO, but it actively explores the Third World, and in the Third World arena such as the Non-Aligned Movement, it has done well and gained strong support. Now that Yugoslavia has embraced the Warsaw Pact, the difficulty for Nehru, who was motivated to follow the path of a reputable great power, has been elevated by more than an order of magnitude.

Ingrid Bergman and Hedy Lamarr’s idea of an extended vacation washed away Allen Wilson’s physical anxiety and allowed their man to appreciate the beauty of the world at this difficult time.

“Why do you look like you’re anxious?” Hedy Lamarr lit a cigarette and took a drag, then brought it to the man’s mouth with her onion-like fingers.

“Hiss ……” Allen Wilson took a deep drag and said ruefully, “Such an enviable life seems like a dream, I’m really afraid of being hung from a street lamp by the Soviets one day.”

“What nonsense. Isn’t it just that the Soviet Union has gathered some poor countries?” Ingrid Bergman pinched Allen Wilson, complained, “Now you know that you are afraid, was not very brave in the beginning?”

“I have been very brave ah ……” Allen Wilson a look I super brave, reached out in the fullness of the Swedish car pinched a little.

Both come and go, Allen Wilson is good at finding favorable places in unfavorable conditions. Yugoslavia joined the Warsaw Pact, the main direction of pressure brought is in the Mediterranean Sea, although so some unfavorable to the unity of the own world, but most of the pressure is bound to be borne by the U.S., Yugoslavia can be directly opposite Italy.

The Sixth Fleet was to face the pressure directly, and the Royal Navy Mediterranean Fleet was in a position of support. If Britain can make good use of this, it can still be profitable; after all, the Free World is far more powerful than the Soviet Union with a bunch of poor people.

Facing the pressure of the United States if you can respect the allies to make adjustments to the British and French may be really good.

Is leading the British military delegation of Mountbatten, is in Washington to hear the news of the formation of the Warsaw Pact, and miles away from his son-in-law, like, from childhood in the center of British politics, Mountbatten, immediately took out the map to judge, the emergence of this group, the impact on the free world.

Soon Mountbatten came to the same conclusion as his son-in-law, that the Italian direction was the one facing the main threat in the Mediterranean. And the U.S. Sixth Fleet stationed in Italy would bear the brunt of that pressure.

“Taylor, the free world now faces unprecedented challenges. We should stand united against the threat.” Mountbatten, in his capacity as Britain’s First Sea Lord, made a solemn statement with a close friend he had made during the war.

Maxwell Taylor is the current commander of U.S. forces in the Far Eastern Theater of Operations, who has also just returned to the United States and is about to take over as Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army.

During the war, Maxwell Taylor was one of the few generals in the U.S. Army who knew Asia, and he also worked with Li Qiwei in the same unit, where Li Qiwei was the division commander and he was the chief of staff.

Mountbatten and Maxwell Taylor had been familiar with each other for a long time, but were eventually sent to fight in Europe.

This time the meeting, Maxwell Taylor is also in the list of Mountbatten’s traveling ranks, the two have not worked together, but because both in Asia of course military officer, once they met, quickly into the familiar.

Maxwell Taylor has not yet received the official appointment, he is still the commander of the U.S. forces in the Far East, said that now in Asia, Japan and South Korea are facing huge pressure from the Soviet Union.

Mountbatten also agrees, although he has never had a good feeling about Japan and South Korea among the Japanese, talking about Asia he is not the least bit timid, he as the commander of the Allied Forces in Southeast Asia, his son-in-law is also in British Malaya as a commissioner.

Some of the views of the two camps, so that Maxwell Taylor also frequently nodded, and then Mountbatten will not leave a trace of the topic transferred to the situation in Europe, especially the establishment of the Warsaw Pact above this matter.

Maxwell Taylor, although the talents of Asia, but ultimately sent by Marshall to Europe to participate in the war, Italy is precisely Maxwell Taylor military career an important part.

For this place where he once fought, Maxwell Taylor was also very attached, and after listening to Mountbatten indicate that Italy was a key country in the Warsaw Pact’s pressure, he couldn’t help but recognize, “Admiral, you’ve served as commander of the Mediterranean Fleet, and I definitely approve of your professional opinion.”

“It seems that I will have to add some topics on an ad hoc basis to facilitate the work of Britain and the United States in dealing with such issues.” Mountbatten sighed and said, “Originally, when I met with Ike, I wanted to talk about something lighter.”

Mountbatten was only shallow about the pressures facing Italy; the other man was, after all, an Army general, and it would have been better to have his judgment endorsed by an American admiral, the kind of man who, of course, George Whelan Anderson, Jr. and now a special assistant to the Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff.

George Whelan Anderson, Jr. served in the Pacific Fleet under this very same Allied Commander in Southeast Asia, and at the end of the war, Mountbatten and the U.S. admirals who had fought in Southeast Asia, had developed a good personal relationship.

A special assistant may not be very high in rank, but Mountbatten happened to have experience in seeing assistants at work, and he had seen with his own eyes how the assistant to the Commissioner of British India, after taking care of the top man, turned such a large colony into his own vegetable garden.

For several days in succession, the British military delegation led by Mountbatten, were communicating with the generals of the different branches of the United States military, and while they were talking, they were able to exchange views openly and honestly, in spite of a number of differences of opinion.