Just after eight o'clock, the guests who were accustomed to going to bed early began to leave, but they were all told that an important guest would arrive later and that they would want to greet everyone. At this time, most of the guests did not notice that the number of personal bodyguards outside the door had increased considerably, and in fact, the entire estate was under the "protection" of a large number of militants.

At nine-twenty, the music stopped, and the middle-aged man who had single-handedly organized this large banquet came to the front desk, and the guests speculated with great interest about who this important guest of honor was.

"Ladies and gentlemen, under the theme of peace, we enjoyed a wonderful evening! Look, the moonlight outside the window is so charming, and the air mixed with the aroma of fine wine is so intoxicating, and here, we have to thank God for giving us everything! At this moment, we would rather forget about war altogether, but ...... Someone once said that war and peace are the eternal themes of mankind, and I deeply agree with this! The war is so cruel, and for thousands of years the emperors and generals have been happy to engage in one war after another, why? Conquest, humans have an innate desire to conquer, like a lion guarding their territory, while always spying on more fertile land! ”

The person is still the same person, his clothes have not changed, but his tone and expression are extremely unfamiliar, where is this rich businessman who is kind and charitable, he is simply a general who commands thousands of troops!

"Well, now let me unravel the mystery and invite our real guest of honor today...... Deputy Commander of the German Navy, Raymond, Admiral von Schubert! ”

In the surprise that everyone could not hide, a small and stocky guy appeared, this person was wearing the white summer uniform of the German Navy, with a long saber hanging from his waist, and his left hand holding the hilt.

Siren walked up to the middle-aged man, one step ahead of him, glanced at the crowd haughtily, and then began to say a few words in German. The middle-aged man then translated these words into French:

"Ladies and gentlemen, it is an honour to come to France, to the beautiful and charming Toulon. On behalf of Germany** and the German Navy, I would like to pay tribute to all of you, and especially to the French shipbuilders and shipbuilders, who built a great fleet; Thanks to the officers and sailors of the French Navy, it was they who protected this fleet from the control of the British. Now, on behalf of Germany, I declare that this fleet will be taken over by the German Navy, and we swear in the name of Germany that France will retain ownership of this fleet, and that all future losses incurred in battle will be compensated in the form of money or goods! ”

There was an uproar, but no one had made any radical moves—although there were weapons such as goblets, plates, and knives and forks at hand, the "personal bodyguards" in suits and leather shoes scattered around the hall were watching the group with unkind eyes, and their hands in the pockets of their clothes were supposed to hold the handle of their guns.

Next, the German admiral, who had slipped to Toulon at some point, said something in German, but most of the people present did not know why until the middle-aged man translated it.

"Today not only on the beaches of Toulon and Morellon, but also in Marseille, in Casablanca, in Dakar, and even in Algiers, the elite ships of the French Navy will receive a holy baptism. In terms of the essential use of a man-made object, they will renew their value and justify it! I pledge in the name of Germany that they will be returned to France when the war is completely over......"

Before he finished speaking, the French admiral standing in the crowd shouted angrily: "Bullshit! Swindler! Shameless! You damned Germans! Don't want to take our fleet! Delusion! ”

Another French admiral also shouted: "Even if we blow up and sink all the ships, we will not let you take away a single patrol boat!" ”

The middle-aged man's face did not change, and the German admiral standing next to him may not understand German, but from the expressions and gestures of those French colleagues, he can also guess the meaning of the other party.

Led by the two French admirals, the other French people were also excited, but before they could turn their anger into actual action, two teams of guys wearing German *** and German naval combat infantry uniforms entered from the entrance with great momentum, and the sound of rattling leather boots made the French present quickly quiet down, and the pot-bellied mayor of Toulon and the officers of the French Navy had faces as ugly as pig liver.

The German admiral turned to the middle-aged man and said a few words, which he paraphrased in French:

"Rest assured, it will all be over before midnight! As long as you stay here quietly, I guarantee that every one of you will be able to return home safely! ”

The officers were angry but helpless, who would carry a firearm with them when they went to a banquet? As for the drivers and guards brought by the generals, they must have been controlled by the Germans, who had a great advantage in numbers and equipment. The only hope now is that the officers and men who remain on the ship can keep the ship or make the final choice when they have no choice: sink themselves!

The German admiral did not seem to be in a hurry to leave, but had a large and comfortable chair brought to himself and the orchestra to play again.

At gunpoint, the band had to play some traditional German music, which was certainly not as authentic as the musicians from Germany, but which made the Germans listen to it with relish. On the contrary, the Famu people had to endure great shame!

As the tenth ** approached, sparse gunshots finally came from the direction of the dock, and people invariably began to glance out of the window. However, most of the Germans present, including the charming "Greek merchant," seemed to be calm and confident.

From this point on, every ten to fifteen minutes or so, an officer in a German uniform would come in briskly to report to the German admiral. Sometimes it was an officer of the German Navy or a naval combat unit, and sometimes an officer of the 6th Army dressed in traditional German grey - there were differences in the style and emblem of the uniform, but after the Battle of Malta and the Battle of the North, no one doubted the German Navy's ability to fight on the 6. However, even if the German soldiers were very strong on their own, it was extremely difficult to capture multiple ships on the road with conventional weapons, and this was perhaps the only consolation that could be given to the French admirals who were trapped here. It's just that as time passed, the gunfire outside was still sparse and intermittent, and looking at the arrogant German admiral's more relaxed expression, and the mocking smile on the corner of his mouth, intentionally or unintentionally, they were completely unconfident......

At the same time, in Dakar, Senegal, in West Africa, the Germans, who had infiltrated the port by various means, tried to control the French ships by means of bad tactics, but encountered stubborn resistance from highly vigilant French naval officers and sailors. In this French Senegalese port located in the salient of West Africa, the most dazzling "star" is the battleship "Richelieu", which has a full load displacement of 10,000 tons. Built in the mid-to-late thirties, it was the most powerful capital ship of the French Navy at the outbreak of the war, armed with eight 380mm guns of 45 times diameter, and had extremely heavy armor, and its comprehensive combat capability was evident in the battles with the British Navy in July and September 1940: the British Royal Navy was massing heavy forces to try to annihilate the battleship that might be used by the Axis powers, and in dialogue with British carrier-based aircraft and battleships, the "Richelieu" was at anchor With its strong firepower and solid defense, the ship survived tenaciously with the assistance of coastal batteries. Throughout 1941 and the first half of 1942, however, the French troops stationed in West Africa, along with the Richelieu, were in a delicate state of neutrality, neither accepting the Axis demands to go to Toulon nor making overtures to Britain and the United States.

The French fleet in Dakar was nominally under the command of Vichy**, but the officers resolutely resisted the provisions of the German, Italian, and French trilateral agreement on the disposition of French naval vessels, and especially the so-called Joint Observer Mission. When the Germans, disguised as naval gendarmes, approached the ship, the French sailors on duty maintained a high level of vigilance, and after seeing through and stopping the conspiracy of the other side, the sailors decisively blew up the gangway, thus blocking the German commandos on the pier under the ship's broadside several meters high. The two sides immediately broke out a fierce gun battle, because the ship's secondary guns and machine guns were not in a state of readiness, the ammunition could not be taken out of the ammunition compartment for a while, the French sailors could only use the few rifles in their hands and the German commandos equipped with machine guns and hand ** to confront, even so, they still bravely thwarted the German attempt to use ladders and cables to force the ship.

Soon after, the sailors who had been reinforced from the bilge used large-caliber machine guns and machine guns on the side of the ship to push the German assault team back, and when the other destroyers they were now moored next to the dock had been occupied by the Germans, they were urgently raised and anchored under the command of the captain, Rear Admiral Valuf. As far as the course of the battle is concerned, the French officers and men have done their best, but in the end they have not been able to lead the battleship out of the predicament completely - as they were about to leave the port, they were attacked by a German submarine approaching at night, one of which hit the side of the battleship first, and when the French battleship staggered and continued to sail out of the harbor, the German submarine fired a second one. The French officers and men of the Richelieu had no choice but to let the battleship, which had a badly damaged bulkhead, run aground - but the battleship was not repaired until the end of the war, and became one of the few large ships in the French Navy that had not been used by the Germans for combat.