In early August 1924, the thunder and rain clouds blowing from the North Atlantic monsoon in summer were covering the entire England, and the fog was covered with dark clouds over London. Thunder rolled. As the situation in Japan, India and Persia took a sharp turn, the huge colonial empire seemed to have stood on the edge of a cliff again. The Labor cabinet, which came to power for the first time, became a scapegoat for "missing diplomatic and Indian policy mistakes in the British Empire". In the early election of parliament at the end of July, it was defeated to the Conservative Party led by Stanley Baldwin.

However, Sir Baldwin, who was once again on the throne of prime minister, was not happy at all because he was facing an unprecedentedly huge mess. In addition to the Indian Civil War that had begun and the just-started Persian Gulf crisis, there were also naval arms negotiations with the United States and the British economy that began to show signs of decline.

Daily newspapers are filled with prophecies that the British Empire is about to collapse. Downing Street and Whitehall Street are filled with British people protesting with red flags and anti-war placards. Why don’t these short-sighted guys understand that their wealthy and decent life is built on the basis of the huge British colonies. Without the continuous flow of wealth from the colonies, all of them will become paupers!

How could they enjoy the interests of the colonial empire left by their ancestors while not willing to assume the obligation to fight for it?

Late that night, Sir Baldwin, who was in the Prime Minister's office, held his pipe in his mouth and placed a magnifying glass on the map of South Asia and West Asia on his desk. He got up and prepared to get the tobacco from the glass cabinet placed against the wall. Since he entered Downing Street again, his expenses on tobacco were significantly increased several times! Just as he was filling his pipe with tobacco, a knock on the door suddenly came in.

"I'm so sorry, Prime Minister. I'm still here to disturb you so late. This is the telegram I just received. This morning... a riot occurred in Balochistan area in India!"

The one who came in was Lord Birkenhead, the Minister of Indian Affairs. The tired old man gently placed the telegram on the table. Since taking over the Ministry of Indian Affairs, the old man has never had a good sleep. India is the most important colony of Britain, with a population of 300 million, coupled with abundant steel, coal resources and the rich Ganges Plain and Indus Plain, which made the industrial and agricultural output there almost the same as the British mainland. It may be slightly higher. In fact, the British Empire's current glory and wealth can be achieved by exploiting India! If India is lost, the British Empire will become a second-rate country in the world. No, it is not a second-rate, it should no longer exist! Who doesn't know that the basis of the British Empire is India's labor force, food, South Africa's gold, and the "world's first" navy?

Now the British Navy has been surpassed by the US Navy! If India's labor and food are lost, can the entire empire still maintain? At most, England will be left...

"Prince, we should probably inherit the route of the MacDonald Cabinet, use the power of the Five-Nation Alliance to block the Soviet Union's passage to India, and then concentrate our efforts to extinguish the Indian rebellion!" Lord Birkenheld suggested.

"Lord, what do you mean is that we should join forces with the Chinese and Italians to go to war with the Soviet Union?" Sir Baldwin was obviously hesitating, but Lord Birkenhurd nodded seriously: "The situation is very critical. I have asked the Secretary of the Army Sir Evans and the Indian General Earl of Ixas. The situation in India is now unstable, and the British and Indian troops cannot withdraw enough troops to quell the chaos in the Balochistan area. Muslims in Sindh, Punjab, Kashmir and other places are also ready to move... If the Soviet Union cannot block the passage through Persia to support Indian rebellion in time, new rebellions may break out in those areas within the next one or two months! So we must rely on the power of our allies."

"But the Chinese have proposed to help us quell the Indian rebellion, rather than sending troops to Persia," Baldwin frowned. "It seems that they also want to avoid a head-on conflict with the Soviet Union."

"We must never let the Chinese get involved in India!" Lord Birkenheld shouted: "India is too important to the empire. We must not let any foreign get involved in India. The empire cannot afford the risk of losing India!"

Baldwin had filled his pipe with tobacco at this time, and he started to smoke. With the help of tobacco, the British Prime Minister's brain quickly started to work, and various possibilities and solutions appeared in his mind one by one.

Finally, the Prime Minister sighed: "...Lord, you are right. You cannot let the Chinese interfere in India. No matter how difficult the war in India is to fight, we have to bear it alone. However, the risk of sending troops to Persia is to take the risk of going to war with the Soviet Union! And the Chinese will definitely take the opportunity to raise the asking price, and they will likely take advantage of this to get involved in the Middle East..."

"That's better than letting them get involved in India." Lord Birkenheld shrugged and said helplessly: "The empire has little interests in the Middle East, especially the Persian Gulf. You might as well let the Chinese and Italians share the benefits. Besides, there is not much oil or water there except for the oil fields in South Persia, and it cannot be compared with India at all."

Sir Baldwin nodded. India was indeed a place that the British Empire could never lose. In contrast, Britain's interests in the Persian Gulf were insignificant. Even if China and Italy turned the entire Persia into a colony, it was nothing great. It was originally a country, and it also blocked the Soviet Union's southward to the Middle East and South Asia's key roads. As long as they could seize it, Baldwin took a deep breath and said to Lord Birkenheld: "Lord, I have decided that the empire will quell India's rebellion without any foreign help. At the same time, this cabinet will continue to implement the Persian Gulf policy of the MacDonald Cabinet and will join forces with China and Italy to expel the Soviet forces from Persia!"

Lord Birkenhurd sighed and turned to convey the Prime Minister's decision to the Indian side.

Sir Baldwin picked up the phone to Sir Evans, Secretary of the Army and Sir Chamberlain, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and demanded that they act immediately and implement the policies left over from the previous government. On the one hand, they accelerated the military operations to suppress the Indian uprising, and on the other hand, they were actively prepared to interfere in the Persian revolution.

Sir Mak, the British Ambassador to China, who received instructions from Whitehall, immediately brought Major General Cunningham to visit Chang Ruiqing at the official residence of Tangshan.

...

"Mr. Ambassador. Your country's request is really embarrassing!"

As soon as he heard the request from Sir Mak, Chang Ruiqing immediately frowned and looked very reluctant.

"Mac, General Cunningham. Our country has just experienced an unprecedented war. Although it has won, it has also paid a heavy price. Now it is time to rest and rest. It is really difficult to get enough support from the people to send troops to Persia!"

As soon as these words came out, the two British guys thought at the same time, "When the Chinese people don't support you? It seems that it's still a matter of price!"

After considering the words, Makle said: "Hissing Chairman, the situation on the world's anti-Soviet front is already very dangerous. You should know that the Middle East is at the intersection of Eastern and Western civilizations. The importance there is self-evident! If we cannot unite to curb the Soviet Union's southward movement, it will soon be controlled by the Soviet Union... By then, the transportation line between China and Europe will be cut off by the Soviet Union, and China will not be able to obtain the machinery and equipment needed to develop industries from Britain, France, Germany and Italy. The pace of China's construction will slow down greatly. Therefore, curbing the Soviet Union's southward movement is not only to protect the interests of the British Empire, but also to protect China's maritime lifeline. Moreover, the British Empire will never treat friends unfairly. After successfully expelling the Soviet power from the land of Persia, China and Italy will be able to share this rich land."

Chang Ruiqing listened with his ears, and until Makle finished speaking, he sighed softly: "Mr. Ambassador, the current Persian Republic is a republic with sovereignty, national freedom, and abolishing all unequal treaties! These are the benefits brought to Persia by the Soviet Union... If I were a Persian, I would also support Reza and Khan, and would also regard the Soviet Union as a true friend of Persia. They would also regard the United Kingdom, which was trying to turn Persia into a colony, and the Chinese and Italian troops as invaders! If we want to invade Persia, we would be the enemy of more than 20 million Persian people with armed forces. With the support of the Soviet Union, they would exert their strongest combat power and fight with us until the last breath!

Therefore, the war to invade Persia will be a protracted and bitter battle! Because justice and axioms are on the side of the Soviets."

Makle and Cunningham were speechless. They knew that Chang Ruiqing's analysis made sense! No matter what Trotsky's long-term goal was, the methods he took in Persia and India are now quite clever! For Persians and Indians, the Soviet Union and Trotsky were really liberators. They gave selfless assistance and really wanted to help the people there get rid of imperialist colonial rule...

"Justice and axiom are only within the range of the cannon!" After a while, Cunningham argued strongly: "From ancient times to the present, all great empires have been based on power and force, and justice and axiom have always belonged to the winner!"

This almost naked reactionary remark was only Chang Ruiqing's sarcastic smile. He looked at Cunningham seriously and said coldly: "The problem now is that Trotsky and Reza. Khan had both justice, justice, and cannons in his hands! According to the information we have, Trotsky had provided Persia with 20 divisions of weapons and equipment and tens of thousands of military advisers... If necessary, the Soviet Union could provide more military assistance until it directly sent troops to Persia!

Even if the Soviet Red Army directly sent troops, based on the 25 million Persian population as the base, Reza Khan could organize 1.5 million troops at a mobilization ratio of 6%. With the Soviet military industrial capacity and the level of the Red Army military adviser, it was easy to organize and arm these 1.5 million people. And how many troops are the British Empire preparing to dispatch to deal with Reza Khan's 1.5 million troops?"

"No, Reza. Khan could not have so many troops!" Cunningham stood up suddenly and retorted excitedly: "A country that has not yet walked out of the medieval ages cannot have such mobilization ability!"

Chang Ruiqing waved his hand and shouted: "What Darius and Xerxes could do more than two thousand years ago cannot be done by a free Persian Republic? General, as a loyal ally of the British Empire, I sincerely remind you to come out of the Victorian era as soon as possible! The world has changed, and it is no longer an era when a Western country can conquer an ancient civilization with thousands of infantry and warships! If you really plan to invade Persia and overthrow Reza Khan, then you must prepare to fight a tough battle like Gallipoli, not an Opium war!"

Chang Ruiqing spoke in a deep tone and said seriously: "If the British Empire had such awareness, then as an ally, China is willing to send troops to Persia. Otherwise, China would not have traveled thousands of miles to fight a war that would definitely be defeated!"

Cunningham was also a little confused when he heard this. It turned out that the army of the Persian Kingdom had poor combat effectiveness and was not large in number. Therefore, the British did not take the Persian army seriously and did not think about going to war with hundreds of thousands or millions of well-equipped and well-trained Persian troops. Therefore, he made a plan to dispatch up to 100,000 British-Sino-Italian coalition forces to overthrow Reza and Khan. London even hoped to use 100,000 coalition forces to scare Reza and Khan and the Soviet Union to achieve the effect of winning without a fight.

But Sir Mak heard another meaning in Chang Ruiqing's words, and he asked tentatively: "Chairman, can I understand your words in this way? As long as the British Empire is ready to go to war with 1.5 million Persian troops, will China be ready to send troops to the Persian Gulf?"

Chang Ruiqing seemed to think for a moment, then his eyes were hot and he said with a heavy focus: "That's right. If Britain has such ideological preparations, China will be ready to send troops! As for the conditions for sending troops, it will not be too late for us to talk about it at that time."

The two British guys looked at each other and stood up to say goodbye. Chang Ruiqing sent them out of the official residence. When he returned to the office, Bai Chongxi and Wang Junhao were already waiting there. It turned out that when Makle and Cunningham came to visit, they were discussing with Chang Ruiqing to strengthen the defense of the northwest. When Chang Ruiqing and the British talks, they did not leave, but listened in a small room next to the living room.

"Yaoru. Do you really want to help the British fight Persia?" Seeing Chang Ruiqing come in, Bai Chongxi couldn't help asking.

"Haha. Brother Jiansheng, Brother Yaoru doesn't mean that." Wang Junhao recalled Chang Ruiqing's promise just now and replied with a smile: "Since we have formed an alliance with Britain, it is difficult to refuse directly, so Brother Yaoru exaggerates the strength of the Persian army. In this way, the scale of our troops will be greatly enhanced, and the cost of Britain pays a lot."

"What if they were willing to bear such a cost? Could it be that we really transfer hundreds of thousands of troops to the Persian Gulf? What should we do if there are defenses in the northwest, northeast, and Far East like this?"

"Then we will recruit more troops. Anyway, the British have paid for us to raise money, and we can take the opportunity to get a piece of land in the Persian Gulf as a colony. What's wrong with that?" Chang Ruiqing looked at Bai Chongxi with a smile and said, "Brother Jiansheng, you are also a Muslim. When we get territory in the Persian Gulf, how about you become the first governor? You can also get closer to the pilgrimage to Mecca."

Bai Chongxi hummed twice and waved his hand: "I won't go to the Persian Gulf. There is nothing but sand in that place. Going there is about the same as exile as going to the governor!"

Seeing Bai Chongxi's expression of dissatisfaction, Wang Junhao hurriedly smoothed out and said, "Brother Jiansheng doesn't go, then I volunteered. If I really send troops to the Persian Gulf this time, I will be the commander-in-chief and governor of the Persian Gulf Front. By the way, Brother Yaoru, which territory do you want? Baghdad or Basra?"

"I want Kuwait." Chang Ruiqing had already made a wishful thinking. He took out a map of the Persian Gulf and placed it in front of the two of them, pointed to a small piece of land near the Persian Gulf in the northeast of the Arabian Peninsula, close to the Persian Gulf and said: "There is a small country called the Emirates of Kuwait, a British protector. It has a size of more than 17,000 square kilometers and a population of about 200,000. I want the British to give us the protection of Kuwait to us. Then we will draw a concession in the desert south of Kuwait City, near the Persian Gulf, as our base in the Middle East."

As he said that, Chang Ruiqing took out his pen and drew an oval circle in the desert south of Kuwait City on the map. It is almost the second largest oil field in the world in the future, with a daily crude oil output of up to 2 million barrels! If calculated based on the oil price of more than US$100 per barrel that Chang Ruiqing remembered before traveling, this barren land can generate a huge wealth of US$200 million per barrel every day! Even based on the current oil price of a few dollars per barrel, the Greater Bulgan oil field can generate nearly US$3 million in wealth every day, and can earn one billion dollars a year! Of course, this is just theoretical income.

But looking at the yellow desert on the map, Wang Junhao almost wrote the word regret on his face. Chang Ruiqing smiled at him and then said: "The Persian Gulf is a treasure land, you will know in the future. So once we get the opportunity to go in, we must manage it well. Kuwait is just the beginning. We have to do something big in the future and try to find opportunities to expand south. If possible, we can support the Sabach family to seize a larger territory, even if we support them as the throne of the king of the Arabian Peninsula."

"So what about attacking Persia? Is it really necessary to implement it?" Wang Junhao turned his attention to Persia. He heard that there was a very vast Persian empire in ancient times, so there was always a little bit of fuel.
Chapter completed!