After the brave Polish forces launched their offensive against the Germans, Germany was initially thrown into a slight confusion. Poland's "preemptive" strike had disrupted Germany's attack plans.

However, the Polish side lacked a corresponding follow-up plan, and the tactics they employed were still those of the First World War. Even when the Polish cavalry attempted to tear through the German rear defense lines, their backward technology and tactics were completely ineffective against Germany's orderly defense and counterattacks.

Germany quickly adjusted its military plans, and the original three-pronged siege continued to unfold. Spearheaded by armored units, the German army advanced with irresistible force, and the Luftwaffe neutralized the Polish Air Force in a very short time. Poland simply could not resist tactics that embodied the future concepts of broad-front deep operations and air-ground integration. Within a week, the Germans had beaten the Polish army—which had completely lost its command capabilities under air strikes—into a pulp. The German vanguard rushed all the way to the outskirts of Warsaw.

The Soviet Union also stabbed Poland in the back at this moment, as Soviet troops began their offensive against Poland. Germany and the Soviet Union soon partitioned Poland, and the nation that had been restored for only twenty years perished once again. This destruction was even more thorough than the last; previously, at least the Kingdom of Poland had continued to exist, merely swapping its king for the Russian Tsar. With this partition between Germany and the Soviet Union, Poland ceased to exist entirely.

On June 28, 1939, after receiving this news, British First Lord of the Admiralty Churchill, who was in India, immediately flew back to Britain. This affair had left Prime Minister Chamberlain battered and disgraced, though there were not yet many people in the Cabinet opposing him. The entire British nation could not understand why their Polish teammate was so bizarre as to proactively launch an offensive against Germany.

The newly constructed anti-China alliance had seen one of its members turned to ash within half a year. Britain was now considering whether to declare war on Germany. In Parliament, there were those who advocated for war, and those who opposed it. After all, following the end of the First World War, quite a few British people had cursed the Prime Minister of that time, believing it was the height of stupidity for Britain to trigger a world war just to shield a regicide. Regardless of the Serbian local government's attitude, it was a Serbian who had assassinated the Archduke of Austria. If such a thing had happened to Britain, Britain likely would have been no more tolerant than the Austrians.

This situation was similar. Britain had indeed given Poland certain security guarantees, but since Poland had struck Germany first, Germany's actions could not be called excessive.

As a representative of the hardliners, Churchill was bristling with rage upon hearing such "bullshit arguments" in Parliament. "Evil communism has merged with evil fascism! At a time like this, do we have any choice but to stand up and thoroughly extinguish these two evil nations?"

This was the view of a portion of British MPs, but regarding whether to engage in another total war, a large number of MPs remained deeply uneasy. In the last European war, Britain had consumed millions of soldiers on the battlefield. This time, Britain was psychologically unprepared to pay such a price.

First Lord of the Admiralty Churchill spoke calmly in Parliament: "We will fight the enemy to the end, until the last Indian is dead."

Such a solemn vow made some British hardliners want to laugh. In the last war, Britain had used colonial troops in large numbers to gather enough cannon fodder for charges. After drugging them, the black troops looked particularly energetic. But the Polish campaign had happened suddenly, and its process was equally abrupt. The Germans had wiped out the Polish army in a week with unprecedented tactics and partitioned Poland within three weeks.

Soldiers were not puppets. If the last World War still required cannon fodder for charges, then with the military technological developments of the last twenty years, cannon fodder had truly become just that—dust—with no possibility of even being useful. Thus, MPs immediately expressed opposition.

It wasn't that the British had any pity for the death of some cannon fodder, but transporting this fodder to Britain to die cost money. If these people were just going to die in the literal sense, it was a losing business proposition.

Since they were voicing opposition, everyone spoke quite caustically. One MP asked very unkindly, "Your Excellency, First Lord of the Admiralty, before letting the Indians solve Germany and the Soviet Union, could you have them solve China, which is closer to India?"

Churchill was by nature a man who boasted shamelessly; one could also say he was a shrewd, opportunistic, showboating career politician. Sarcasm had no effect on a man with no sense of shame. Churchill continued his agitation as if he hadn't heard a thing. "Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union are both Britain's greatest enemies. Britain must now use all its strength to solve these two great foes."

Most MPs could understand Churchill's thinking. Even if they lost the Western Pacific, the British Empire would still be the British Empire. But if they lost Britain's voice in Europe, Britain would be nothing. Could a narrow English Channel hold back a future European hegemon? The British were never that optimistic.

Some MPs had already realized that unless a more powerful force intervened in this war, Britain could not bear fighting China, Germany, and the Soviet Union on three fronts simultaneously. It seemed there was only one country that could be such an external force, and that was the United States.

While Britain argued endlessly, bad news arrived one piece after another. First, China made new moves in the Indian Ocean. Chinese submarine forces raided the British Navy at Diego Garcia; two heavy cruisers were sunk, and one battleship was heavily damaged.

Diego Garcia is the largest and southernmost coral atoll in the Chagos Archipelago in the central Indian Ocean, part of the British Indian Ocean Territory. Britain used it as an important naval base in the Indian Ocean. The Chinese Air Force's stunning performance had effectively forced the British fleet out of the Bay of Bengal and into the western waters of the Indian Ocean. The British port on Diego Garcia thus became an important naval port. But the British never imagined that Chinese submarines would attack directly here.

The event was simple. British warships set out from the naval port here and ran headlong into the Chinese submarine force. Because they hadn't expected Chinese submarines to ambush them so far out, British attention was focused on the surface rather than underwater. This slight error led to catastrophic consequences. The Chinese submarine force had clearly come prepared; after one round of firing, four British warships were hit. These warships from the late WWI era performed poorly in anti-torpedo defense. Of the two sunken heavy cruisers, damage control personnel fought for seven hours on one of them but were still unable to save the ship.

Diego Garcia was too far from any base capable of repairs, and the ship was in no condition to make it there. The Deputy Commander of the Royal Navy's Indian Ocean Fleet stationed there chose to beach the ship, hoping to reduce the difficulty of future salvage. In the end, even the beaching failed; only a section of the mast could be seen at high tide, while the rest was completely submerged. Britain had only this one "Eight-Eight Fleet" in the Indian Ocean, and in the blink of an eye, it had lost a quarter of its strength.

The bad news did not end there. On July 1, China raided Port Blair on the east coast of South Andaman Island in the Indian Ocean. This was the most important port and city in the entire Andaman Archipelago. The garrison at Port Blair reported that China had deployed massive paratrooper forces for an airborne operation. By the afternoon of July 1, the last telegram from Port Blair was sent from the official residence and office of the local administrator: "The Chinese army has surrounded us. We can no longer resist."

The Andaman Islands are located between the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. To the north, they are about 220 kilometers from the mainland across the Preparis Channel. To the south, they are connected to the Nicobar Islands across the Ten Degree Channel. There are 204 islands in total, dominated by North, Middle, and South Andaman Islands; some islands have no permanent population. The area is 6,461 square kilometers, with Middle Andaman Island being the largest.

Entering the Indian Ocean from the Malacca Strait, or from the Kra Canal currently being excavated by China, requires passing through this archipelago. The attack on the Andaman Islands proved that China's attitude toward entering the Indian Ocean was already extremely resolute. Even though the German threat was close at hand, many British MPs who opposed declaring war on Germany now directly demanded that Britain fight China first, rather than fighting China, Germany, and the Soviet Union simultaneously.

Chamberlain had never been a politician who feared war. At this stage, he also clearly recognized that war with Germany was necessary. While Britain had an alliance agreement with Poland, the French had simply signed a security agreement with Poland, guaranteeing Poland's safety.

Hindered by Poland joining the British alliance, no matter how anxious France was about Poland being partitioned, they could not cast Britain aside and act alone. After all, Poland was Britain's ally; the French couldn't be more anxious than the emperor himself. Recently, the French had been demanding Britain state its position every day, and Britain was being pushed to the brink.

Chamberlain knew very well that if they did not declare war on Germany now, given the recent coziness between Germany and the Soviet Union, there was no hope of successfully diverting the trouble eastward. At that point, the British would lose not just face, but their credibility entirely.

This politician was very clever. After detailed consultations with members of his own party, Chamberlain chose not to launch the war himself, but to resign.

After Chamberlain's resignation, First Lord of the Admiralty Churchill—that fatty Churchill—who had consistently held a hardline stance against Germany, was appointed by the King as the Prime Minister of the new Cabinet. At the first Cabinet meeting, Churchill repeated the words he had spoken during the Battle of Singapore: "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: Victory. Victory at all costs—victory in spite of all terror—victory, however long and hard the road may be, for without victory there is no survival." The House of Commons ultimately demonstrated its support for the Churchill government with an absolute majority of 381 votes to 0.

On July 7, 1939, the Churchill government formally declared war on Nazi Germany. During the vote, Churchill still displayed British shrewdness; he did not declare war on the Soviet Union as well. No matter how loud Churchill barked, it did not mean he dared to make enemies of China, the Soviet Union, and Germany all at the same time.

After the declaration of war, Churchill immediately flew to France to confer with the French Prime Minister. The French treated Churchill arrogantly, but ultimately declared war on Germany on July 9. However, France only declared war on Germany and did not declare war on China. France's intention was to wait and see regarding China; if the British could regain military superiority in the Western Pacific later, it would not be too late to declare war then.

On the very day Britain formally declared war on Germany, an urgent message reached Britain. The Chinese Air Force had conducted an airborne operation in Colombo, the capital of Ceylon. On July 10, Colombo was captured by China. The British War Cabinet felt unprecedented pressure.