Chapter 256: The End of France (26)
After several hours of turbulence, Churchill's plane landed in Paris and headed for the Matignon Palace.
As soon as he saw French Prime Minister Reynaud and Allied Commander-in-Chief Gamelin, Churchill immediately realized that the situation was much worse than he expected. Because both of them looked gloomy, and there was no hope at all.
Especially Gamelin, who had a stern face, as if someone owed him money.
At this time, Gamelin was really unhappy. Just now, Prime Minister Reynaud mentioned to him the plan to replace the commander-in-chief. Although he said it very tactfully, Gamelin was not a fool and immediately understood what he meant.
Although he felt unhappy about crossing the river and demolishing the bridge, Gamelin had to admit that he had to bear a lot of responsibility for the war situation to this point; if it were not for his identity as the commander-in-chief, he might have been escorted to the military court and convicted of dereliction of duty.
Gamelin, who was discouraged and powerless, agreed very reluctantly and said that he would resign on his own initiative.
But when Renault informed Weygand, Weygand was not happy.
Weygand thought that if the war went smoothly, he would be happy to take over the responsibility, and he would be obliged to do so even if there was a glimmer of hope. But now the defeat is almost certain. Do you want me to take over and sign the surrender? I will not bear this big black pot, and I don’t want to be infamous for thousands of years!
Weygand declined the appointment of Prime Minister Renault on the grounds that he was too old and sick to bear the burden. He is 72 years old this year, and this excuse sounds reasonable.
This is very embarrassing.
Renault could not find any other candidates for the time being, so he had to bite the bullet and ask Gamelin to continue to serve as the commander-in-chief.
Although he wanted to pat his butt and leave, Gamelin reluctantly agreed for the sake of his motherland.
Churchill certainly didn't know that this happened, and went straight to the point. "Commander-in-Chief, how serious is the situation?" Now there are more than 200,000 elite British troops on the European continent. If these soldiers are lost, the consequences will be disastrous. "Where is the strategic reserve?"
Gamolin shook his head and shrugged. "There is no strategic reserve! Just an hour ago, our two armored divisions and an armored brigade of your army were severely damaged. Now there is no way to resist the German army's advance."
"..." Churchill's mouth twitched slightly. Two armored divisions and an armored brigade were gone just like that? You French people are quite good at sending heads! But even if you want to send heads, it's enough to send your own heads. Why do you bring your allies?
It's less than a week, and you're going to lose?
Churchill really wanted to slap himself hard to see if he was dreaming! Although the British side also analyzed the possibility of France's defeat, Churchill never dreamed that France, the "world's first land power", would persist in the German offensive for days.
Renault on the side said in great frustration. "Your Excellency, Prime Minister, I just discussed the issue of retreat with Commander-in-Chief Gamelin. It is meaningless to defend Belgium now, and the troops in Brussels must be withdrawn." Churchill agreed with this proposal. He was almost surrounded by people, so of course he had to withdraw. "As long as we keep the army, we can keep the hope of victory. Our indulgence of Germany has led to today's bad results, but I believe that the final victory must belong to us!" I don't know if he said this to cheer up the two people on the opposite side or to cheer himself up. However, his words are indeed reasonable. They must keep these troops, otherwise it is basically impossible to reorganize an army with the same number and combat effectiveness in a short period of time. At that time, let alone France, even the British mainland will be in danger. "Your Excellency, Commander-in-Chief, is there any plan?" Gamelin said slowly. "My idea is that it is basically impossible to retreat by land, and it is easy to be cut off by the German army." After all, the German army can reach the seashore if it rushes forward for more than 200 kilometers, completely cutting off the retreat route of the coalition forces. If the land route doesn't work, then the only way left is the sea route? !
Churchill fell silent immediately.
This task was so difficult that even the British Empire felt the pressure.
More than 200,000 British troops, more than 100,000 French troops, plus tens of thousands of Belgian troops; how many ships would be needed to transport nearly 400,000 troops? And so many heavy equipment, how could they be transported just like that?
It's just a division of personnel, equipment, baggage, and vehicles, and it can't be transported without a ship of 200,000 to 300,000 tons!
Although the shortest distance between the two sides of the strait is only 30 to 40 kilometers, and transport ships can go back and forth non-stop, it takes a considerable size of ship to transport all these personnel and equipment.
Britain is an island country surrounded by the sea, so there is no shortage of ships; but the biggest problem is air supremacy over the English Channel.
He also learned that the British Empire's most advanced Spitfire fighter was not a match for the German fighter. Although engineers tried their best to upgrade and improve it, it was impossible to see results in a short time.
If air supremacy cannot be guaranteed, how can the transport ships be protected? Once the German army takes the opportunity to launch an attack, how many ships, personnel and materials will they lose? However, during the discussion, both sides found a problem. Gamelin was going to transport the troops to the rear of France to regroup and fight again. Churchill wanted to transport all the troops to Britain. Gamelin and Renault did not agree at first. After all, if all these troops were transported to the opposite side, what would they use to stop the German army?
It is no exaggeration to say that once these elite main forces leave the mainland, France will simply surrender without having to fight.
Churchill spent all his efforts and almost ran out of words before convincing these two men to agree to transport the army to Britain.
After discussing other details, Churchill stood up. "Then I'm going back."
Prime Minister Reno asked worriedly. "Your Excellency Prime Minister, do you think we still have hope of victory?"
"Of course!" Churchill replied without hesitation and decisively. At this time, what is needed most is firm belief, and Churchill's belief has never disappeared. No difficulty seemed insurmountable to him.
"Prime Minister Reynaud, Commander-in-Chief Gamelin, although the difficulties we are currently facing are more severe than those in 1914, I believe that the heroic French people will bravely overcome these difficulties. As Horace said, 'The difficulties that have been overcome This is the opportunity for victory; once this difficulty is overcome, victory can be said to be close at hand, and our British Empire will stand firmly by France's side to fight against the evil Germany. The righteous side!”
Churchill had already seen that these French people were about to lose the courage to continue fighting, so he could only cheer them up as much as possible. Lest these guys surrender before those troops can withdraw. This was why he insisted so strongly on sending troops to England.
"Furthermore, Germany's domestic resources are already scarce, and with our blockade, they won't be able to hold on for long. Without the gasoline supply, their thousands of tanks and planes will turn into a pile of junk!" It's easy to say that, but Churchill himself did not believe that Germany would be short of fuel in a short time.
After all, no one knows how much crude oil Germany has shipped from Daming in the past ten years. Moreover, they also import oil from the Soviet Union and the United States. With the oil supply from Romania, I am afraid that Germany now has enough fuel to fight for several years.
His words seemed to have some effect. The French Prime Minister, who had been dejected just now, regained some color on his face and nodded vigorously. "France will fight to the end."