The Rise of Australia

Chapter 893 Paris is undefended

The quarrel between the war faction and the peace faction in France has been going on for decades.

But for now, the main war faction and the main peace faction each have several key figures, and the quarrels also occur between them.

For the French people, the government's decisions also represent their opinions. Yes, if the government decides to resolutely resist the German attack, the French army will still rush to the battlefield.

But if the government decides to back down from this war, a large number of French people will accept peace and give up the glory of the French more than 100 years ago.

The truth is that simple and straightforward. The so-called war is just a game between some senior business politicians and capitalists.

For ordinary people, no matter how victorious the war is, it will only bring them endless casualties and sorrow.

If the German offensive had not been too crazy and demonstrated their ambition to annex the entire Europe, I am afraid that the main militant faction would not have received the support of President Albert to launch a war against Germany.

No matter in terms of positions or status in the political arena, there is no comparison between the two representatives of the war faction and the representatives of the peace faction.

At this meeting, President Albert showed his usual ability, which is to hesitate, to help the left and to the right.

The current tank corps of the Paris Garrison is already a collection of most of the armored forces in France.

If the British Empire faced such a powerful enemy, even with Australasia's full assistance, I am afraid it would not be a match for Germany, which occupies most of the European continent.

In this way, regardless of whether Wei Gang was a war or peace faction, he could not affect the subsequent actions and plans of the French army.

On August 2, 1936, Mark, the Australasian ambassador to the United Kingdom, asked to see the new British Prime Minister Churchill and made a surprising proposal, which was to use force to control France.

Once we detect any move by the French government to surrender, as allies of France, we are all obliged to help France return to the track of war.

How to ensure France's loyalty to this war? The focus must still be on the French war faction.

"Tell me about your plan, Ambassador Mark." Churchill thought for a moment and finally nodded.

Now, with France's decline in the war, the peace faction has regained the approval of President Albert, and France as a whole has a tendency to become a peace faction again.

With France as the first line of defense against Germany, the British Empire's homeland would not face much danger. But if even France falls, Germany's next target of attack will definitely be the British Empire.

Churchill had no doubts about what Ambassador Mark said. If you want to control the French government, the tank army in de Gaulle's hands becomes extremely important.

Although this brief discussion did not bring anything to Australasia and the United Kingdom, both parties participating in the meeting knew that this meeting actually added a layer of security to the United Kingdom and Australasia.

Prime Minister Churchill, we need a unified code to ensure that our armies on both sides can move quickly in a short period of time to control the French government as quickly as possible. "

"Of course not." Ambassador Mark smiled and shook his head, looked at Churchill, and said with deep meaning: "Only the French can control the French government, and our obligation as allies is to help the French control the French government. ”

"What does Prime Minister Churchill think of Wei Gang?" Ambassador Mark asked with a smile on his face.

"Ambassador Mark, even if de Gaulle can control the French government with our support, are you sure he can win the loyalty of all French troops?

Once we are unable to control all French troops, apart from pushing France completely to the German side, doing so does not seem to be able to change the situation of the war. "After Churchill thought for a moment, he raised his question.

“Because of this, we must avoid such a bad situation for Europe.” Ambassador Mark continued: “Only when the French government takes a proactive attitude, can we ensure that Germany will not be so powerful.

As long as it can be ensured that the French army is the main battle force, Britain and Australasia can solve the problem with some small actions by the French government.

Compared with the relationship between Britain and France, the relationship between Britain and Australia is obviously closer and closer.

No matter how powerful Britain is, the British mainland is only composed of three large islands outside the European continent.

In such an environment, the most nervous one should be the British Empire, which is across the sea from France.

Key figures of the peace faction include Minister of War and Field Marshal Pétain, Chief of Army General Staff Gamelin, and current Prime Minister Laval.

As the war continues, the number of casualties among our soldiers has exceeded 700,000, and the death toll has exceeded 325,000.

With all due respect, if the French retreat in this war, then the British Empire will become the next target of Germany's attack, and the situation will be even worse than Germany's. "Ambassador Mark said calmly.

"Just use winter." Churchill nodded and said casually: "Napoleon the Great, who once wanted to unify Europe, fell in winter. I believe that the current German army will also fall in winter."

If the French government is successfully occupied and Wei Gang is asked to serve as the commander-in-chief of the provisional military government, there will not be much problem in stabilizing the overall situation.

Churchill was surprised, and then asked with great interest: "Mr. Mark, do you think we can control the French government by ourselves?"

At the meeting, the current Prime Minister Laval said seriously: "Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to ask you a question, that is, what has the war brought to France?

Some people may say that if we fail in this war, France will face the crisis of national extinction.

"Good proposal." After listening to the whole plan, Churchill nodded first, looked at Ambassador Mark with a slightly appreciative look, and said: "But our actions need an opportunity, at least before the French government shows extreme peace ideas, we should wait for the opportunity temporarily. "

Add to that Ron, the Undersecretary of the Army in the French government, and it is not impossible to unite and control the French government.

Paris is undefended!

This was an incredible and unimaginable sentence for the French before.

Not to mention Laval in the political arena, some representatives of the peace faction, such as Pétain and Gamelin, who were already famous in World War I, have now turned to the arms of the peace faction, haven't they?

In any case, this is indeed a tragedy for the French government and the French people. Considering the glorious history of France more than 100 years ago, this is even more tragic.

"Tell me more." Churchill nodded.

Even if we have to offend the current French government for this, we will not hesitate."

Not to mention the impact on history, just talking about the present world, it has already had a very significant impact on the layout of the French Paris defense line.

Maxime Weygand, current French general, deputy chairman of the French Supreme Military Council, and director of the army.

Weygand's resume is comparable to that of several guys in the peace faction, and he was already famous in World War I. In the late stage of World War I, Weygand was already the chief of staff of the supreme commander Foch, and was promoted to the rank of General of the French Army.

Looking at the French war faction, the two most famous figures at present are Roman, the Deputy Minister of Defense, who pushed France to declare war on Germany, and Charles de Gaulle, the commander of the armored corps of the Paris garrison.

It is most appropriate to borrow a sentence from Robert Folchik, a pioneer in the study of armored warfare history: "When France urgently needs a warrior, the former warriors choose to be a deserter."

As expected by Australasia and Britain, a few days later, the French government held a cabinet meeting to discuss France's next decision.

More importantly, the British Empire can take certain measures and means against France, but for Australasia, which is thousands of miles away, the British do not have any good means to defend. This also means that before the end of this war, Britain and Australasia can only maintain a good relationship, even if Australasia has already posed a certain threat to the British Empire.

In the proposal of the peace advocates, they actually mentioned abandoning the defense line of Paris and adopting the so-called "Paris without defense" plan to show sincerity to Germany and strive for the opportunity to negotiate peace with Germany.

Laval's words can be said to have spoken to the hearts of many French peace advocates.

Because of such a special geographical location and environment, the hegemon of the European continent can easily have a huge impact on Britain, and this impact can easily turn into a threat.

But I want to say that if we continue to insist on this war, France will also be in danger of extinction.

It can be seen from the positions of these people that they are all at the top of the political and military circles, and they enjoy high reputation and status in the political arena with their own qualifications.

Let alone whether the Germans can break through the English Channel and successfully land on the British Isles, the loss of transferring the war to the British mainland alone is enough to give the British government a headache.

But the problem is that the person who proposed the proposal is in France, and the person who makes the decision is also in France.

"This is just an emergency plan. I naturally hope that the emergency plan will never be implemented." Before telling his plan, Ambassador Mark first explained with a smile, and then showed a serious expression and said seriously: "

More importantly, because Weygand is close to 70 years old, his control over the French interim military government will be greatly reduced.

"Maxime Weygand?" Churchill nodded, and he also knew something about the famous Weygand.

This just meets the expectations of Britain and France for him, that is, to be a commander-in-chief on the surface, and the actual military power of France is still handed over to the war faction.

"I believe that Prime Minister, you are also aware that the dispute between the pro-war and pro-peace parties in the French government has never ended. Especially after the French battlefield was defeated, the French military headed by Marshal Pétain and the French government headed by Prime Minister Laval were spreading the idea of ​​ending the war at the lowest cost.

Of course, the nice thing to say is that they don't want to see unnecessary casualties in France, and the bad thing to say is that they are already afraid of the terrifying combat effectiveness of the German army.

Do we have to use a failed victory like the last World War to end this unnecessary war?

"Of course." Ambassador Mark nodded and said as a matter of course: "The Australasian Army will be ready at any time to help General de Gaulle and Minister Roman control the French government.

If there is any change in the French government, we can support General de Gaulle to temporarily control the French government, implement militarized management of France, and encourage the French to resolutely resist Germany."

But the problem is that neither De Gaulle nor Ron is one step behind in terms of identity and status, and they are obviously unable to become the leader of the militarized French government.

As mentioned before, France did not pay much attention to armored forces before World War II, which resulted in not many armored forces in France.

"If the French surrender, I'm afraid the whole of Europe will not be spared." Prime Minister Churchill frowned and asked.

If the current British government proposed that London be undefended, I am afraid that most British officials would slap the proposer.

De Gaulle, who controlled this tank corps, also enjoyed a high status and reputation among the entire Paris garrison.

Let the British fight Germany. Since we have no plans to compete with Britain and Germany for hegemony, why should we participate in this war? "

Judging from the current garrison situation in France, General de Gaulle, commander of the Paris Garrison Tank Corps, is a staunch militant and controls a large army.

I propose to negotiate separately with Germany to end this war with lower losses and avoid meaningless attrition with Germany.

Both sides understand what they are thinking, and this matter is actually a win-win situation for the UK and Australasia.

But because the representatives of the French peace faction crushed the war faction in terms of qualifications and status, the momentum of the peace faction at this meeting was far greater than that of the war faction.

Wei Gang is currently 69 years old and is considered semi-retired in the French Army. Although he has semi-retired, Wei Gang still has prestige in the French army as an army general.

Therefore, it became necessary to ensure France's loyalty to this war.

Australasia only has the potential to pose a threat to the British Empire, but Germany has already posed a threat to the British and is likely to affect British hegemony and rule in Europe.

Compared with the future threat of Australasia, the current threat from Germany is the most serious for the British.

What's more, once Germany annexes France, the combined power of Germany and France will be far from what Germany can currently match.

In the arguments of the peacekeeping officials, the "Paris without defense" proposal was agreed by the majority of officials, and President Albert announced that it would be implemented immediately.

At the same time, most of the troops north of Paris began to mobilize. They would go south of Paris and give up all the defense lines north of Paris to Germany.

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