I am Jiang Weiguo in World War II

Page 522

The war was imminent, and Jiang Weiguo would naturally go to the front. In fact, he only went to Bangkok, and it was impossible to go to the front line. Even if he went to the front line, the danger was not great, because the opponent was the British army.

Wei Lihuang, Luo Zhuoying, Deputy Minister of Defense of Thailand Zhao Haijun, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Thai Army Tang Feihu, Director of the Staff Office of the Expeditionary Force Headquarters Zeng Liwei, Director of the Communications Office Jin Dingguo and other senior military officials greeted Jiang Weiguo in person at Bangkok Airport.

Everyone was overjoyed, and looked at Jiang Weiguo with respect from the bottom of their hearts, because they all knew that China's power in foreign lands and their ability to lead expeditions today were all because of Jiang Weiguo.

In the past five or six years, the Nanjing Army has become stronger and stronger in the Vietnam War, and China has become more and more prosperous. The prestige of Chiang Kai-shek, the supreme leader, must have been rising, and the prestige of Jiang Weiguo has also been rising steadily and hot.

Back then, when the Sino-Japanese War started, Jiang Weiguo went to the front line to command the war. Many people in the country ridiculed him, thinking that he was just "seeking fame and sensationalism" and "just gilding money to take over his old man's position." But now, No one thinks like this anymore, because Jiang Weiguo has already proved with facts that he is indeed very great, thus winning the support of countless people, even Wei Lihuang and Luo Zhuoying who are "veteran figures who have passed the age of enthusiasm", I also admire him desperately.

On the other hand, soldiers are naturally eager for war. Although it is not advisable to be warlike, soldiers naturally hope to encounter war and use the blood and bones of the enemy during the war to pave their own glorious road and serve the country. If there is no such desire for the feats made, it would be hard to call him a real soldier.

Right now, Wei Lihuang, Luo Zhuoying and others are able to lead the Central South Expeditionary Army. Needless to say, they are very excited, so they are full of gratitude to Jiang Weiguo.

"The tropics are the tropics. It's only the end of February, and it's already this hot!" Jiang Weiguo took off his coat as he got off the plane.

"Hello Director!" Wei Lihuang and others saluted respectfully together.

Although Jiang Weiguo is the commander-in-chief of the Nanjing Army, he has not had a fixed military position for a long time. He used to be an officer in the army. However, his ambition is definitely not limited to a certain division or army. His military position at this time is The Director of the Wuhan Camp of the Military Commission, from a procedural point of view, he was promoted. He changed from the Deputy Director of the Military Commission’s Beiping Camp to the Director of the Wuhan Camp. Therefore, the status of the Beiping Battalion, which was originally the headquarters of the Nanjing Army, was greatly reduced. In addition, the headquarters of the Military Commission is currently in Wuhan, so the status of the Wuhan Battalion is very high.

To use a metaphor, Chiang Kai-shek is the president of Nanjing, and Jiang Weiguo is the mayor of Nanjing. Can the weight of this mayor be compared with other mayors?That's the reason.

In essence, Jiang Weiguo was actually Chiang Kai-shek's "personal assistant in the military". His position was not very high, but his status was very high and his real power was great (Jiang Weiguo's real power was earned by himself).

Because Jiang Weiguo's official military position at this time was "Director of the Military Commission's Wuhan Camp", everyone naturally called him "Director".

"Okay, okay, they are all from my own family, don't be so polite!" Jiang Weiguo joked, "Oh, I almost forgot, there are two 'Thais' here!" He smiled and looked at Zhao Haijun and Tang Fei Tiger.

Both Zhao Haijun and Tang Feihu laughed: "We are 'in Thailand and in China'!"

Jiang Weiguo beat Zhao Haijun and Tang Feihu: "I'm just kidding! Of course you are also my own family!"

Luo Zhuoying beside him was full of emotions: "Second son, I really admire your strategy and vision! I can't imagine that you have already operated Southeast Asia five and a half years ago, and you have arranged so many important chess pieces, and one ring With one ring, your deployment is not only seamless and impeccable, but also far-sighted and far-sighted! It has to be breathtaking! Who would have thought that with a few simple manipulations behind the scenes, a country would be so thorough from the inside to the outside? , It simply fell under your control, the political power and military power are all under your control, even the deputy minister of defense of the country and the deputy commander-in-chief of the army are your subordinates! Second son, your wisdom is afraid that even Zhuge Liang is not as good as that!"

Jiang Weiguo repeatedly showed modesty: "Mr. Luo, you can praise me, but the words are too nasty!"

"We are definitely not flattery!" Wei Lihuang seemed to empathize, "It's from the heart.

Originally, going to war in a foreign country is destined to be full of hardships and dangers, but after we came to Bangkok to study the battle situation carefully, we found that the right time, place and people for the next battle are almost all on our side. The combat conditions are excellent, and everything has been arranged by you Well done, well laid out, winning the battle is simply a matter of course.

I am by no means arrogant and underestimated the enemy, but...how should I put it?With so many first-match advantages on our side, how can we not win the battle unless it is an imbecile? "

"It's good to have confidence! The first step to success is to establish confidence!" Jiang Weiguo was very satisfied, and at the same time thought to himself, if it weren't for Lao Tzu, you would have suffered a lot!In the original history, your first overseas expedition had a total of 103000 soldiers. In the end, you lost nearly 56500 people. More than 30000 people were buried in the virgin forest just across the Savage Mountain, but you only wiped out more than 4500 Japanese soldiers ( In fact, there are not so many, because the Japanese army also had many soldiers who were killed, injured or sick due to various natural factors), and they were completely defeated. , A total of more than 4 Japanese troops were eliminated, but they still suffered more than 1.2 casualties (it should be noted that the results of the annihilation of the enemy are not all from the Chinese Expeditionary Force, because the US and British troops also participated in the war, but most of the blood They are all from the soldiers of the Chinese Expeditionary Army); right now, I have given you all the advantages that I can give you. If you can’t achieve a brilliant result, let’s not mention the country and the people. At the very least, you Is it worthy of my painstaking efforts and the countless money I have thrown in?

Jiang Weiguo immediately remembered that in the past, the Chinese Expeditionary Force united the U.S. and British forces against the Japanese army, but now it was reversed. At this time, the Chinese Central and South Expeditionary Force was united with the Japanese army against the British army (there was no American army yet).

In this way, the situation is even more optimistic. Those "lobster soldiers" are much easier to fight than Little Japan (the British army has a nickname of "lobster soldiers" because the British army uniform before 1900 was bright red, Like a cooked lobster).

The "Front Headquarters" of the Central South Expeditionary Force in Bangkok is located in a completely Chinese-style mansion in the suburbs. The owner of this mansion is a Chinese businessman from Thailand. He learned that the motherland's army needs to march from Thailand and rent it for free. This big house was used as the front headquarters of the army.

Jiang Weiguo and the others walked into the general headquarters while chatting and laughing happily. There were already everything and people inside. Hundreds of guards stood ready to defend the place. Dozens of staff officers were busy performing their duties. The walls were covered with various maps. The table is full of various documents, and there is a sand table in the hall that is as big as a basketball court.

"Second Young Master, don't come here without any harm!" Just as Jiang Weiguo entered the door, a thick old man's voice came from the corner of the hall.

Jiang Weiguo took a closer look, and was suddenly surprised and delighted: "Mr. Chen!"

Chen Jiageng, who had been waiting here for Jiang Weiguo for a long time, nodded with a smile: "Old man, I am 68 this year, and my health is not as good as before, so I can't go to the airport to pick you up in person. No wonder the second son!"

Jiang Weiguo said again and again: "Mr. Jia, what you said is outrageous! You are an elder and I am a junior, how can I trust you in front of your elder! By the way, aren't you in Singapore? Why did you come to Bangkok? "

Tan Kah Kee seemed filled with emotion: "I have worked hard in Nanyang since I was a child. I am in Nanyang, but my heart has always been concerned about the motherland! I have waited for decades, and my temples are graying. I finally waited until the army of the motherland retakes Nanyang. One day, if I don’t come to Bangkok in person and witness the mighty lineup of my Chinese army, wouldn’t I regret it for the rest of my life?”

Jiang Weiguo felt hot in his heart: "Well, Mr. Jia, this day has come!" He looked around the hall, and his eyes were immediately attracted by the sand table. After a closer look, the sand table contained the entire Malaya Peninsula including Singapore. The sand table is extremely delicate, with one mountain, one river, one city, one town, and one forest all the way, covering every aspect and every detail, which can almost be described by the word "details are fully visible".

"This is simply the Malaya Peninsula in miniature!" Jiang Weiguo couldn't help applauding.

"This sand table was made by Zeng Liwei and Jin Dingguo!" Wei Lihuang smiled and looked at Zeng Liwei and Jin Dingguo.

"Well done!" Jiang Weiguo repeatedly praised, "Just relying on such an accurate and detailed sand table, even Zhao Kuo, who is talking on paper, can win the battle!"

"We don't dare to take the credit alone!" Zeng Liwei laughed, "If it weren't for my uncle's strong support, how could we know Malaya so well? My uncle and so many overseas Chinese in Malaya live in Malaya. How many years has it been? How wide is the distribution? They are very clear about every plant and tree in Malaya.

After all the information is collected here, it is very simple to make this sand table!"

Jiang Weiguo looked at Wei Lihuang, Luo Zhuoying and others with meaningful eyes: "It seems that you are going to attack Malaya?"

Wei Lihuang nodded: "Yes, Malaya first, then Burma!"

Jiang Weiguo signaled: "Everyone, please sit down, Chief Wei, Chief Luo, it seems that you have already prepared a draft for the next battle, please tell me about it!"

Everyone sat down one by one, and Wei Lihuang pointed to the huge Indochina Peninsula map on the wall: "The mission of our Indochina Expeditionary Force is to take down the British Far East colonies such as Burma, Malaya, Singapore, and Brunei. Starting from Thailand, There are two routes, southward and westward. The southward is to hit Malaya, Singapore, and Brunei, and the westward is to hit Burma.

After repeated research, we decided to go south first and then go west.

First of all, the Japanese strongly demanded that we go south, seize Malaya, Singapore, and Brunei, and clear these obstacles on the way for the Japanese army to go south. Speaking of which, China and Japan are allies after all, and we cannot do without them in Southeast Asia. The support of the Japanese Navy, therefore, we still have to give the Japanese face; secondly, whether our army should go south or west, we were very controversial at first, and the focus of the debate was the British Far East Fleet, if the fleet was in the Far East If we gain a firm foothold or defeat the Japanese navy or the Japanese navy has not been able to destroy it for a long time, then the command of the Indochina Peninsula will be controlled by the British. There are great risks and uncertainties in Lai. Since naval battles cannot be fought, land battles must be fought. Naturally, they gave up going south and turned westward to fight Burma, invade India, occupy large areas of India, and then use them as bargaining chips. Exchanging Malaya, Singapore, and Brunei with the British on the negotiating table is exactly the backup plan formulated by the headquarters of the Military Commission. However, I really didn't expect that the Japanese would be so easy, so easy, and so three times and five divisions. They simply wiped out the British Far East Fleet and paid an unbelievably small price. When we learned about this, we could hardly believe it. We almost thought that the Japanese were bragging. That's true, since the Japanese have won the naval battle in excess, then the command of the sea in Southeast Asia is completely on our side, and our combat plan must be adjusted accordingly.

With the command of the sea in hand, Malaya, Singapore, and Brunei are isolated islands on the sea. If the command of the sea is in the hands of the British, Malaya, Singapore, and Brunei will not be easy to fight. Although the British military supplies are difficult to reinforce these three places, But the British army can reinforce these three places by sea from India.

Today, the British have no command over the sea, and Malaya, Singapore, and Brunei are in a helpless situation, and the difficulty of attacking is greatly reduced.

Compared with these three places, if our army fights Myanmar, it will be quite difficult. Myanmar is completely bordered by India. India is the most important colony of the United Kingdom, and there are heavy British troops stationed there. Start a tug-of-war, a war of attrition, so first hit Malaya, Singapore, and Brunei!"

Luo Zhuoying took over the conversation: "The fourth reason is that the British troops in Malaya, Singapore, and Brunei are all alone because of the loss of sea dominance by the British army. I have never fought against the British army before, so I will play a few games first to feel the reality of the British army and gain experience, and then go to Burma to start a full-scale battle with the British army; the fifth reason is the significance of our army's capture of Singapore It is very big. Singapore is known as the "No. [-] Fortress in Southeast Asia" and "Gibraltar in the East". If this door, this key, and this door are in the hands of the British, we will be blocked, but if they are in our hands, we can control the gates of Southeast Asia, enter and attack, and then attack the Indian Ocean. Keep it safe, block the British into the Indian Ocean, protect the security of Southeast Asia, and prevent the British from making a comeback!"

Jiang Weiguo nodded again and again: "Your analysis is right! In addition, I have another doubt.

Ladies and gentlemen, please look at the map. Yes, because the Japanese army won the Malay naval battle, the sea control is on our side. Malaya, Singapore, and Brunei have all been reduced to isolated islands. The Indian and British troops cannot reinforce by sea. However, the British army Will it be 'surround Wei and save Zhao'? "

Wei Lihuang said: "The director is worried that the Indian British army will attack our country's Yunnan Province or Thailand?"

Jiang Weiguo nodded: "Yes, maybe the British army will go to Tibet!"

Wei Lihuang said: "We have considered this point, so we rejected the plan of 'going south and west at the same time'. Although most of the advantages are on our side, it is better for us to move steadily. If we launch an attack on both fronts, our army may not be strong enough. In the end, the chickens will fly and eggs will be beaten, and both hands will be empty. If we attack on the south line and defend on the west line, our army will have more than enough strength. It may seem conservative and negative, but it is safe and sound.

As for the Indian British army's attempt to 'encircle Wei and save Zhao', where would they fight?After our analysis, we believe that the possibility of the Indian British army attacking Yunnan is very low. There are two reasons. First, if the Indian British army wants to attack Yunnan, it must first pass through northern Myanmar. However, northern Myanmar is full of mountains and virgin forests, and the natural conditions are extremely harsh. , the traffic is almost isolated from the world, let alone fighting, it is very difficult for the British army to cross northern Myanmar. Even if the British army forcibly crosses, it will be an expedition. The British army's attack on Yunnan will basically be futile, so what's the point?As for Tibet, it is even more impossible. Did the British army cross the Himalayas?Secondly, we are now fighting the colonies of the British, and the British are hitting our homeland with a backhand, which is seriously different in the political sense.

If we don’t take the initiative to declare war on the UK, the top leaders in London should understand our deep diplomatic meaning that we don’t want to be open enemies with them. How can the British be willing to add another powerful enemy when the Germans have already pushed the British to the brink of national subjugation? "

Jiang Weiguo nodded again. He felt that this situation was very similar to the Korean War in later generations. The U.S. military knew that the Chinese army was helping the North Korean army in fighting, but because China and the United States had not declared war on each other, they did not dare to attack mainland China on the other side of the Yalu River.

"In the final analysis, the possibility of the Indian and British troops attacking Thailand from Burma is the greatest?" Jiang Weiguo said, "so as to indirectly contain our actions to attack Malaya, Singapore, and Brunei, and achieve the effect of 'encircling Wei and saving Zhao'? "

Luo Zhuoying nodded: "Yes, but the Thai army is not vegetarian, right?" He looked at Zhao Haijun and Tang Feihu.

Zhao Haijun nodded with a smile, and Tang Feihu was full of pride: "Sirs, don't forget that the elite of the Thai army are all Chinese and overseas Chinese, and they can also fight!"

蒋纬国点起一根香烟：“中南远征军有5个南京军的师，第101师已经去驻扎越老柬了，还能参战的就是第74、第17、第111、第123师!”

Wei Lihuang said: "We plan to withdraw the 101st Division from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia to Thailand, and replace it with follow-up troops (non-Nanjing Army troops). Five divisions, two divisions will be used to fight Malaya, and three divisions will be in town. Thailand.

If the Indian British army attacks Thailand, these three divisions will start defense. If the Indian British army really invades Yunnan, these three divisions will invade Burma and start to draw fire from the bottom of the British army invading Yunnan! "

"Two divisions, 7 people?" Jiang Weiguo spewed out a smoke ring, "Is it enough to hit Malaya, Singapore, and Brunei? As far as I know, Singapore is also considered a strong city!"

Zeng Liwei said: "Yes, Singapore is indeed a fortified city. The British have indeed put a lot of effort into this 'first fortress in Southeast Asia'. There are British concrete fortifications on the east, west, and south coasts of Singapore. It is sturdy, and the scale is very large, and the firepower is also very strong. There are more than 75 coastal defense guns with a caliber of more than 300 mm, and more than 1500 machine gun firepower strongholds. A strong attack on Singapore, even if it wins, will suffer heavy losses.

After the landing troops set foot on the extended beach of Singapore, they will be completely exposed to the firepower network of the British army. Through simulation calculations, it can be known that even if 70% of the British army's coastal defense artillery and machine gun bunkers are destroyed, the landing troops will have to pay 1 yuan. The cost of many casualties.

However, if you attack from land, the difficulty will be greatly reduced!The degree of difficulty is probably less than one-tenth of that of a sea attack!"

Jiang Weiguo asked enthusiastically, "Why are you so sure?"

Zeng Liwei smiled proudly: "Second son, have you forgotten? In Southeast Asia, as long as there are people, there are our overseas Chinese.

Take my uncle as an example, he has lived here for 50 years!His buddies and stores are everywhere, and he himself has traveled all over Malaya and Singapore. Do you know how many overseas Chinese there are in Singapore?Of Singapore's 150 million residents, 110 million are overseas Chinese!The Chinese are the main population in Singapore, and Singapore is basically a second Hong Kong.

The British rule Singapore's political power with guns, but we overseas Chinese rule Singapore's society!The same is true in Malaya. Our overseas Chinese are everywhere, afraid of not getting detailed, accurate and comprehensive information?In addition, we have sent people to Singapore for field inspections many times, and I have been there myself!" He pointed to Singapore on the sand table, "It is not difficult to see from the fortifications of Singapore that the British built this fortress city mainly to focus on In terms of how to resist the attack from the sea, the defense of the Malayan Peninsula behind it is empty.

More than [-]% of the heavy weapons of the British army are located in the coastal area of ​​Singapore, and the northern area bordering the Malayan Peninsula has only a few temporary defense lines that are almost vulnerable.

The fundamental reason is that the British firmly believe that it is impossible for the enemy to capture Singapore from the Malayan Peninsula in the north of Singapore, because the central part of the Malayan Peninsula is covered with rubber forests and virgin forests stretching for 800 kilometers. The dense tropical jungle makes it impossible for mechanized troops to pass through. In addition, the coastal defense guns set up by the British army in Singapore can hardly rotate at a large angle, which means that those coastal defense guns can only bombard the sea, but cannot turn around to bombard the north land!"

"Good!" Jiang Weiguo couldn't help but praise, "Your work is so perfect! Our army won the victory in Southeast Asia, and the first credit belongs to you overseas Chinese!"

Luo Zhuoying said with a smile: "The British tried their best to build Singapore into a fortress, but they can only defend against the sea in the east, west and south, but they cannot defend against the land in the north. It is really a clever arrangement of heaven. The ability to attack Singapore from the sea can only be attacked by land, and Singapore is difficult to attack from the sea, but easy to attack from the land.

Terrific! "

Zeng Liwei added: "From the Thai-Malaysian border to Singapore, the southernmost tip of the Malaya Peninsula, there are tropical jungles. There is only one road running through the entire peninsula without railways, so the traffic is very inconvenient. More importantly, from the map, There are only a few rivers in the Malayan Peninsula, but in fact there are about 250 rivers, large and small. If we do not take effective measures, our army will advance all the way from north to south, and the British army will blow up the bridge while retreating, and we will be in great trouble Yes, if we repair the bridge while walking, it will definitely delay for a long time, and it will also provide precious time for the British army in Singapore to prepare for war!"

Wei Lihuang said with emotion: "If you only rely on the map to fight, you will really become Zhao Kuo. If you are light, you will miss the opportunity to fight, and if you are serious, you will suffer heavy losses.

Fortunately, countless overseas Chinese have helped us, let us have a clear understanding of this place, and saved us from the situation where a blind man rides a blind horse.

God bless! "

Jiang Weiguo asked: "How many troops are there in Malaya and Singapore? How strong are they?"

Jin Dingguo grinned and said: "There are a total of 2 troops, but there are only about 1.5 British soldiers, about 4 Australian soldiers, about 2.5 Indian soldiers, and about [-] Malayan soldiers. tile dog.

As for heavy weapons, there are three or four hundred planes, all of which are old-fashioned, and there are basically no tanks. The Far East Fleet is the only force that the British can pose a threat to us, but it has been sent to the bottom of the sea by Little Japan!"

"Only three or four hundred planes? Or old-fashioned stuff?" Jiang Weiguo smiled.

Jin Dingguo shrugged: "Is this strange? The British people's homeland is about to hang upside down, and most of the planes and warships are used to defend their homeland. Three or four hundred old-fashioned planes and the Far East fleet can be dispatched to Southeast Asia. , It’s already the wealth they saved by tightening their belts!”

Jiang Weiguo also grinned: "How poor is the British Empire? It made us a bit invincible, but hey, they bullied us back then, now it's our turn to bully them! This is retribution! It seems that we dispatched two divisions and [-] elite soldiers, which is more than enough to deal with these sick British cats in tiger skins.

Well folks, I can't wait to hear from you! "

Section 607 War Announcement

London, 10 Downing Street.

Greeted by a British official with a cold attitude, Gu Weijun walked into this building representing the highest power of the British government without being humble.

In the corridor leading to the prime minister's office, from time to time, high-level British military and political officials hurriedly passed by Gu Weijun. When they saw Gu Weijun's yellow skin and black eyes, these high-ranking British officials showed indifference and even showed a smile. Gu Weijun showed a sneer of disdain, of course he knew why these British high-level officials showed unwelcome expressions on him.

The British are actually very disdainful of the Chinese, because in the minds of the British at this time, the Germans are robbers who attack them with open flames, and the Chinese are villains who attack them behind their backs.

Robbers are hated and feared, villains are loathed and annoying.

This is a very simple reason. The reason why robbers are hated and feared is that they are capable anyway. To a certain extent, robbers are worthy of respect, while villains are not capable. Villains are like hooligans. Scoundrel, he has no skills, he will only make people feel uncomfortable.

To this day, the British are still full of contempt for the Chinese. First, it is because of the inherent arrogance of the British. Second, the British, as Western whites, have a sense of superiority over other people of color.

Gu Weijun can be sure that when he came to London, the British were superficially indifferent, but deep down they were full of contempt and disgust. If German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop came to London, the British would also be superficially indifferent, but deep down they would be full of fear and disgust. nervous.

At the door of the prime minister's office, the British official who received Gu Weijun said blankly: "The prime minister is very busy, you only have 5 minutes!"

Gu Weijun sneered secretly, because the scene in front of him seemed to be begging, and the British Prime Minister mercifully rewarded himself with 5 minutes of time to meet in the midst of the ever-changing situation.

"One minute is enough!" Gu Weijun said calmly.

The door was pushed open, and Gu Weijun saw the new British Prime Minister Clement Richard Attlee sitting in the original Chamberlain's seat, and the former British Foreign Secretary and current British Army Secretary in this room with him Robert Anthony Eden.

Germany's launch of the Western European campaign marked the complete bankruptcy of the "appeasement policy" that Chamberlain had always advocated. In particular, the British expeditionary force to aid France was wiped out in the Battle of Dunkirk, which made Chamberlain's prestige and support rate plummet. The honest good old man had to be forced to step down in dejection and remorse. At the same time, because Chamberlain belonged to the British Conservative Party, his major mistakes in Germany and foreign policy affected the entire Conservative Party. The Conservative Party rivals the British Labor Party. As a result, Attlee, who belonged to the Labor Party, replaced Chamberlain.

Attlee was hard-working, down-to-earth, and capable, and he always opposed Chamberlain's "appeasement policy". However, he was not the kind of person who was so tough that he was almost arrogant. He was a calm and rational person.

Compared with Chamberlain's weakness and short-sightedness, Attlee is more tough and resolute, and compared with Churchill in the original history, Attlee is more gentle.

For the United Kingdom, World War II was a historical juncture in which the country’s fortunes were greatly changed. At this historical juncture, Chamberlain’s countermeasure was to “cover his ears and steal the bells, and muddle through” (Although Chamberlain dared not fight, he did a good job in the welfare of the British people’s livelihood), Churchill's countermeasure was to "strive with both hands and be tough with both hands". On the one hand, he wanted to win the war, and on the other hand, he tried his best to maintain Britain's global status. After the war, it was still an empire on which the sun never set (Churchill was mainly committed to two things during World War II. One was to lead Britain to win the war, and the other was to do everything possible to support the huge family business of the British Empire. He was not reconciled to the decline of the British Empire.