Chapter 285 French Envoy

"Hello, His Royal Highness Crown Prince Yannick."

Yannick nodded slightly as a greeting. "Oh? French envoy? Our two countries are in a state of war. Although it is said that 'the two countries will not send envoys until they are at war', it is really difficult for people to figure out your country's intentions by sending you here so hastily."

"Dear His Highness Yannick." He was under the eaves and had to bow his head. The French envoy's voice was very humble, even choked with sobs. I don’t know if he has ever understood the proverbs and sayings of the Ming Dynasty: “Ten years in the east of the river, ten years in the west of the river” and “Feng Shui turns around”. He would have found that these words are very suitable for today’s France.

From being arrogant and arrogant twenty years ago to being groveling now, we were arrogant about breaking up Germany twenty years ago, but now we can't wait to beg Germany to save a way out. "The French government and people are peace-loving..."

Yannick waved his hand and interrupted him. "Mr. Special Envoy, stop talking nonsense. How much do you think our German armored forces will advance when you talk nonsense? You only have one chance. If you can't satisfy me, you can go back, or you can go directly to Report to our prisoner of war camp and get used to life there.”

The French envoy wiped away his sweat for countless times and simply stated the purpose of his visit. "Dear Your Majesty Yannick, I am here to hope that you can be merciful and stop your army from advancing. I can guarantee that France will give your empire a satisfactory return." He barely said the word "pray" .

Looking at the extremely humble French envoy and the smug Ribbentrop who barely looked at people with his nostrils, Yannick couldn't help but think of the sentence "The dignity of a diplomat lies in the country behind him." .

A weak country has no diplomacy!

But in fact, the only thing a weak country can rely on is diplomacy! The best diplomats are in weak countries, because they do not have the country behind the diplomats of strong countries. All they have is diplomatic wisdom. Only through their own diplomatic wisdom can the weak motherland survive in a world governed by the law of the jungle.

"Oh? Then what do you call rewards? I'm a little curious about what France, which is about to be destroyed, can give us. Don't talk nonsense about all the areas we occupy being allocated to us. So, I'll just give my If you can accept the conditions, accept them. If you don’t accept them, don’t waste everyone’s time.”

The French envoy had already guessed that the conditions Yannick was about to offer would be difficult to accept, but he could only nod his head. "Please speak."

Yannick directly told the contents of the armistice agreement between Germany and France in the original time and space.

“First, France must cede 1/3 of its territory, including Paris;

Second, the French government must pay 500 million francs in daily occupation fees for the German occupying forces (an extra 100 million francs are required);

3. The French air force and army must not exceed 100,000 people;

Fourth, the French government must be consistent with Germany in politics, economy, military, diplomacy and other aspects, and must not violate Germany in any way. "

Although this agreement in the original World War II stipulated that the German army would only occupy one-third of France's territory, in fact the German army directly occupied half of France's territory, bypassing Marshal Pétain and actually controlling Vichy France. France actually became Germany's arsenal, source of troops and logistics base.

Why would France accept such a harsh treaty?

The main reason was that after the newly elected French Prime Minister Pétain decided to surrender, he unilaterally ordered the French army to stop resistance before reaching an armistice (surrender) agreement with Germany.

After the cessation of resistance, the German army, which originally occupied only half of France, quickly occupied almost all of France. Mustache ordered not to occupy Paris for the time being and to start negotiations with France.

Since Pétain had been a soldier for most of his life and had little political experience, he first ordered the army to stop resisting. As a result, he lacked bargaining chips during the negotiations and had to sign the League of Nations.

If he ordered the army to continue to resist, and used this as a bargaining chip to seek peace, and negotiate while fighting, I believe France would not be so passive.

But then again, the surrender of the Pétain government did reduce France's losses in World War II. France's losses in World War II were smaller than those of Britain.

"Isn't the price a bit... high..." The French envoy was trembling all over.

"Big? My army has conquered half of your country's land, and only one third has been surrendered to the fruits of our victory. I haven't finished speaking yet. I have clearly warned you to abandon the 'Fish' plan. Bar?"

When the Battle of France broke out, more than two thousand tons of gold were stored in the vaults of the Bank of France. In order to prevent unexpected events, French Finance Minister Lucien Lamolay ordered Pierre Fournier, President of the Bank of France, to formulate a plan to evacuate all gold reserves in an emergency, code-named "Fish".

In order to implement this plan, they first transferred 2,226 tons of gold stored in the basement of the Bank of France in Paris to fifty secret vaults around the country. These vaults are not far from various military ports on the Mediterranean or Atlantic coasts and have convenient transportation. In the event of changes, contingency plans can be implemented immediately.

As the war worsened sharply, Lamoule informed Fournier to immediately implement the "Fish" plan. As a result, the French Ministry of Finance used all means to transport the gold to Brest, Toulon and the ports of Le Verdon. 2,226 tons of gold are ready to be shipped across the rough Atlantic Ocean.

Yannick warned the French high-level officials through secret channels. "But you insisted on shipping 2,226 tons of gold overseas. Do you think America will return the gold to you after your defeat? Also, has your Charles de Gaulle fled to form a government in exile? Now, America has an excuse to swallow up the gold. You are playing a trick of betting on both sides." Every country will bet on both sides when facing the danger of extinction. This is something that a community must do. But they may not necessarily succeed on one side. How many countries and nations have completely perished because of defeat. Many countries will completely perish even if there are traitors.

The envoy was extremely depressed. They are an enemy country, okay? Looking at the reaction of His Highness, it seems that France has touched the gold that originally belonged to him. And haven't the "Joan of Arc" and "Emile Belden" been intercepted by you, and more than 400 tons of gold have been intercepted?

He was a little shocked in his depressed mood. Many of the things that His Highness said were secrets that only the French high-level officials knew. Even he didn't know the exact amount of gold. How did His Highness know it so clearly?

"I said at the time that you would pay the price, and now is the time. Since I can't get the gold, I will use your warships to compensate. The French Navy must hand over all the battleships, and are there any aircraft carriers that have not been completed in your shipyard? Those must be handed over. Don't try to play any tricks of "Rainbow Operation". That is the glory of our German Navy, and we will never allow others to tarnish it! If you dare to sink a battleship, I will occupy an extra city."

"Your Highness, I can't make this decision." The special agent wiped his tears with a handkerchief and replied. "I must contact the country. No French person can make a decision on this matter. Even if this decision can save France, the person who signs this peace agreement will be hanged in front of the French people."

Haha, what you said is true. After the end of World War II in the original time and space, Pétain was sentenced to death for treason. Later, considering his great contribution in World War I and his advanced age (89 years old), his sentence was changed to life imprisonment.

"Then hurry up. I have been very generous and let your navy keep its warships." After saying that, he signaled Ribbentrop to see off the French envoy. "Minister Ribbentrop, ask Miss Anna to invite Raeder and Dönitz to come."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Before Yannick finished the lily painting on the canvas, Raeder and Dönitz arrived.

"Hi! Hohenzollern."

"Please sit down, generals. I asked you to come because I just learned about the British "Catapult Project."