Inside the Prime Minister's residence at 10 Downing Street in London, Lloyd George was holding a secret meeting. The subject was the same old refrain: should they strike a man when he was down and wipe out the United States, their greatest rival, in one blow?
The hawks and the doves had been arguing for over a year. From the King and Prime Minister down to ordinary citizens, everyone had been debating the question.
Just as Americans hated the British, the British had no affection for Americans either. This time, the ordinarily anti-war public had, for once, not come forward in opposition.
Perhaps, in their minds, the United States was still merely an insignificant small nation in the Americas, with no hope of standing against the combined powers of Europe. Moreover, the influenza had inflicted more casualties upon the British than the World War itself. Countless families of the dead had become staunch supporters of war!
No matter how one looked at it, the influenza had been brought by the Americans. There was nothing wrong with settling accounts with them. With so many countries joining in, everyone was delighted at the prospect of giving those nouveau riche a good beating.
Ordinary people could think that way, but politicians could not. Did they really believe the Americans had made no preparations?
One only needed to look at the shipyards the Americans had recently rushed into operation around the clock. They were launching ships like dumplings dropping into a pot, while local governments were intensifying militia training and military-industrial enterprises were once again running at full capacity!
While the Wilson government played the groveling weakling and put on a pitiful act to win sympathy, it was also urgently preparing for war, ready to resist the blows of every nation by force!
That