Chapter 214 Breakfast

Gamelin did receive the news that the Fortress of Eben Emaar had been captured, but he did not show any panic, and still sipped his breakfast aperitif slowly (it seems that this is the French character, everything is done slowly) ; they advocate a slow pace, a carefree and free life, pursue romance and freedom), and are full of self-confidence that "everything goes up in flames while talking and laughing."

Taking a last sip of the aperitif, he ordered. "Go and fetch Viscount Gott. I want to have breakfast with him."

He was able to be so calm because Britain and France had formulated a series of corresponding plans after intercepting the German "yellow plan".

This combat plan code-named "D" stipulates that if the German army launches a major assault on Belgium, the Allies will use two French army groups and one British group army to maneuver towards Belgium. Under the cover of the Belgian group army, the Allied forces will stop the German army in Belgium. If the German army launches a frontal attack on the Maginot Line, one army group will be used to defend, and one army group will be used as the second echelon of reinforcements. The British will be responsible for blocking Germany at sea.

The French, Belgian, and British Expeditionary Forces have a total of 125 divisions, more than 3,000 tanks, and more than 1,300 aircraft, and can use more than 1,000 aircraft on the British Isles to support the battle. Belgium's 22 divisions are all deployed on the country's eastern border. The French and British armies have a total of 103 divisions, organized into three army groups: the First Army Group has a total of 51 divisions, which are deployed on the border between France and Belgium and the northern French provinces; the Second Army Group has a total of 25 armies, which is deployed from Switzerland to The Maginot Line of Defense in Luxembourg; the Third Army Group has a total of 18 divisions, which are deployed behind the Maginot Line of Defense on the Swiss border. The French army's strategic reserve is 9 divisions.

After a while, Viscount Gott came in a hurry. "Your Excellency, Commander-in-Chief, have you received the news? The Eben Emar Fortress has been captured!"

Gan Molin laughed. "Your Excellency, Viscount Gott, I heard that the British are all elegant gentlemen and do not panic at all changes. You are not like a British person to be so panicked. Don't you also know the response plans we have made? What else can you do? Worried. Come and try this fine cheese, just shipped from Paris."

"Your Excellency, Commander-in-Chief, is still mature and prudent." Viscount Gott smiled bitterly and sat at the dining table. Just as I took a sip of my pre-dinner drink, I thought of something else. "I received the latest domestic news just before I came here. Prime Minister Chamberlain is preparing to resign, and the person who will be succeeded is His Excellency Winston Churchill."

"Huh?" Gamelin paused as he picked up the knife and fork and prepared to cut the bread. "That Lord of the Admiralty Churchill? I heard that he was an extremely staunch anti-German and pro-war party? Where did his hostility to the Germans come from?" The Germans are indeed hateful, but it is so deep into the bones like Churchill. Hostility to the Germans is quite rare. "To be disrespectful, isn't the royal family of your country also of German descent? Is His Excellency Churchill so hostile to the royal family?"

In the beginning, the British royal family were all purebred British people. It was not until the end of the Stuart dynasty in England that problems began to arise.

Since Queen Anne, the last monarch of the Stuart dynasty, had no heirs, the British Parliament began to consider the issue of the dynasty's successor.

But Anne was a Protestant, and her Stuart relatives were all Catholics. This was absolutely unacceptable to Britain where Protestantism had become the state religion, so they chose Han as their successor in northern Germany. Nova family.

Since Germany was basically in the period of the Holy Roman Empire at that time, anyone who knows history knows that this empire with a great name is actually a loose political system composed of hundreds of large and small states. In fact, various royal families in Europe have their own affairs here. Its own private territory, Hanover is a piece of British private land.

As the private land of the British royal family, the royal family naturally arranged for its blood relatives to rule the land of Hanover. In order to better rule Hanover, it must choose to marry with the local nobles, which made the Hanover family inevitably begin to appear. German blood.

In the end, because Queen Anne had no issue, the Hanover family, a distant relative of the Stuart dynasty and a Protestant believer, established the British Georgian dynasty and started the German bloodline of the British royal family.

Until George V came to the throne, the British royal family's surname was still Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

This surname is a common surname in Europe, originating from the Duchy of Gotha, Saxe-Coburg, Germany. This principality has great influence and has participated in the management of upper-level affairs in Germany many times. More importantly, this principality has been married to many European countries. There was even a German bomber named Gotha during World War I, which shows its power and influence.

The war led to an increasingly strong anti-German sentiment among the British people. However, the British royal family had the same surname as an enemy bomber, which aroused strong anger and dissatisfaction among the British people. In addition, the German emperor at the time was George V's cousin. Therefore, there were rumors among the British that George V was pro-German.

In order to avoid suspicion and appease the people, George V decided to abandon the German surname "Sachskoburg" and take a new surname with distinctive British characteristics. Finally it was changed to "Windsor" as the "family name". "Windsor" is the name of the castle. Windsor Castle is the oldest royal residence in the UK that has always been inhabited. In 1917, George V chose Windsor as a family alias, which shows the royal family's affection for it.

Viscount Gort said very seriously. "Mr. Churchill's loyalty to the royal family is clear to all. As for his hostility towards Germany, it may be that Mr. Churchill is too patriotic, so he particularly hates the Germans for threatening the authority of the British Empire again and again."

Gamelin shrugged without comment. "Since Mr. Churchill is so hostile to the Germans, what should we do when the war falls into a stalemate after a while? We don't want to waste several years like last time. If the Germans are sensible, we would be happy to negotiate with them."

Based on the experience of the last war, Gamelin naturally thought that this war would also fall into a stalemate.

Viscount Gort raised his eyebrows slightly. "Oh? Your Excellency the Commander-in-Chief is so confident that the Germans will be stopped in Belgium?"

Gamelin couldn't help rolling his eyes in his heart. What are you talking about? If the Germans are not stopped in Belgium, do they have to rush into France? Do these damn British guys still hope that Germany and France will lose both at this time? "Of course. It is undeniable that they did a good job in Poland, but so what? Our 52 allied divisions (30 divisions of the British and French, 22 divisions of the Belgian army) are defending in such a narrow battlefield in Belgium. Of course, we can withstand the German attack." Poland needs to defend more than 650 kilometers, while Belgium is less than 300 kilometers.

Perhaps sensing the dissatisfaction in Gamelin's tone, Viscount Goth hurriedly explained. "I mean that Germany's reserve fuel should be difficult to cope with a protracted war."

"I hope so. Your Excellency, how about this cheese?"

Viscount Goth nodded. "It's really good."

Just as the two were enjoying breakfast happily, a faint prayer sounded at the bottom of the Eben-Emael Fortress. "My Lord Jesus Christ, your power is so great and your mercy is so boundless. I pray that you will forgive my sins and protect me from the harm of the vicious enemy..."

One voice after another gradually joined in, and soon everyone began to recite the sacred words. The prayer lasted for a long time, with four or five different prayers being repeated. The voices gradually became sparse, and finally returned to silence again.